Orenda (A Transformers Story)
by Katiekhtr
Summary: Izzy could easily be called a rebel. Curiously living on the edge and always seeking answers. But when the Cybertronians fight comes to her city, she finds herself thrown into the world of autobots and decepticons. With hopes of finding a normal life again, she wonders if she will survive through all the chaos her life has become.
1. Chapter 1

Izzy watched the mans pen tap the smooth oak table. It was a steady beat. Tap. Tap. Tap. Over and over again. If it wasn't for the importance of this meeting, she was positive her anxiety might have gotten the best of her and caused an outburst. Something along the lines of.

"GIVE ME THE FUCKING PEN"

Or

"JESUS, TAP, TAP, TAP, HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?"

But she remained silently smiling in her seat, as if this was the best moment in the world. The man glanced up at her for a moment and she raised her lips even higher to give him a more toothy smile. He frowned before looking back down at the photographs in front of him…Possibly too much of smile.

"_Shit Izzy, calm down. Deep breathes" _

Izzy closed my eyes and breathed in deeply and sat up straighter. _How long had I been in this room? Was it getting hot in here or was it just me?_

She opened her eyes to glance out the window.

Oh, the beautiful, polluted city of Los Angeles. Where half the population can only afford microwave meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the idea of health insurance was a joke unless you won the lottery.

The man cleared his throat and she quickly turned her attention back towards him.

"Izzy, is it?"

"Yeah, that's right" She gave the softest of nods. The man opened the folder and pushes it towards her. Inside it was a simple resume, along with a few photographs. The photographers were not necessarily flattering, as Izzy was wearing a bikini, posing up against a white wall. But it was all she had.

"You seem sweet, but we are really looking for professionals"

"Look, I can learn. I really need a job right now and-" Izzy was desperate. She leans forward, looking through the bad quality photos, trying to find the best one.

"All our ladies can handle making drinks, dancing and-

"I'm a super, super fast learner and I'm really in shape and- " Izzy attempted to explained. The man waved his hand in front of her shaking his head.

"Stop"

Izzy slowly stopped pawing through the photographs and glanced sadly up at the man.

"I get that you are trying to survive here, just like everyone else. But there are things you have to do to get to the point these girls have, to be getting the pay grade and working the clubs they do"

Izzy ran her hands through her hair frustrated and leaned towards him.

"Okay, what? Just tell me what to do, I'll do it, I need a chance here"

The man sank into his seat, before his smile raises into a toothy grin. He looked out the window. Although on at least the 6th floor, he found the need to reach over and close the blind. Izzy watched him, her eyes narrowing before he took his seat again. They shared a silent moment as she clocked his expression.

"Then, impress me" The man leans back and unbuckles his belt before putting his hands above his head. Izzy stared at him for a moment and then back to the photographs. Her fists clench and unclench at her side. Finally she relaxed and slumped. A soft sly smile creeping up to her face and she got up putting her hands on the table.

"I'm good at making great first impressions" She said with a sly smile. She flipped the folder closed and moves it away, giving her space to crawl onto the table towards the man. He watched her, absolute excitement fills his expression. Her hair brushed against the desk as she leaned forward, her red stained lips almost touching his. He closes his eyes. She leaned her head away and reaches to his ear instead, softly whispering. "Unfortunately, I fucking hate pigs"

If this man had actually listened to the words she had whispered so lovingly, he might have realized they were not meant to be taken in such the bittersweet way they had been spoken.

But, like a majority of rich white men who have their heads so far up their ass- they never question anything. So of course, he failed to notice Izzy grabbing the coffee from his desk. It was too late to stop her. The hot brown liquid splashed onto his perfectly ironed white shirt. A howl of pain escaped his throat as Izzy made a dash for the door.

Out the door and into the hallway, she stumbles in the tall heels. The bellowing of the older man was very rapidly closing in on her. She took the chance to glance behind her just in time to see the man slams into the hallway wall as he tried to turn.

_Shit. Go. Go. Go. _

Izzy looked over to the elevator.

_Six people. More people going in. Can't risk getting stuck. Stairs. Where are the stairs?! _ She rapidly looked to the left. Stairs. Her heels click loudly on the cheap flooring, before she slammed the door open, disappearing behind it.

Ten seconds later, the Starbucks covered asshole opened the door. He caught his breath for a moment, wiping the sweat on his brow before his small beedy eyes spotted a single black heel laid perfectly upright at the bottom of the first staircase.

"I got you now, bitch"

With excitement in his stride, he took down the stairs, two at a time. If he would have just paused for a moment to look up, he would have noticed Izzy eyeing the scene from a flight above. Holding her spare heel in one hand, she made her way carefully down both flights of stairs to retrieve the left heel.

Holding both heels in her fingers, she reopened the stairwell door and walked calmly down the hallway. Back into the interview room, Izzy casually started going through the drawers. Papers, pens and pencils flew behind her as she emptied every single one.

"Binggoooo" She smiled as a wallet dropped perfectly into her open fingers. She opened it, snatching the cash out of it. Only 20's and 50's. It was a good day.

Quickly tucking the cash into her back pocket, she paused to look at the folder of photographs of herself. With a small grin on her lips, she brushed away some of the papers to find a pen and flipped over one of her photographs and started to write.

By the time the man had admitted defeat and made it wasy back to his room, it was much too late. He came back to find his personal belongings tossed and turned to no end with one of the photographs of Izzy taped up to the window with a comment- GO FUCK YOURSELF :)

…..

Izzy opened her apartment door before dropping a bag on the floor and grabbing a remote off the couch. The news report immediately flashes to life on the Telly.

"On recent news, there have been reports of large…balls?...Falling from the sky-" The poor news reporter squinted, moving closer towards the prompter.

"Tom-"

"Sara, I'm reading what it says-" He angrily defended himself.

Izzy laughed as she made her way over to the kitchen, filling up a glass of water. "Balls falling from the sky, Oh joy. Hey Siri, play voicemails"

She collapsed on the couch, drinking the cool goodness and grabbing the cash from her back pocket.

"First, unheard message….HEEYYYY…so- you stood me up. We were supposed to get drinks tonight at 7 and-

"Shit, Markus" Izzy squealed, choking on the water as she got up. She quickly grabbed her phone and dialed a number. "Hey, so, so sorry- I didn't forget about you. I'm on my way. Just got caught up with…work"

She quickly stripped out of her skirt and belly shirt, instead replacing it with camo pants, combat boots and a baggy sweatshirt. A small cat popped out from under the couch, meowing for attention as Izzy awkwardly hopped around the room trying to put herself together as fast as she could. "Not now Igby, love you, bye"

Within minutes, Izzy was on the street again, phone up to her ear.

"Hey, I'm like five minutes away from our spot, I'll be there in a few minutes"

She ended the call and continues to rush forward, seemingly unaware of the various of people pushing and pulling to go in the opposite direction. Izzy continued to irritably push them back, making her way up the crowded main street.

A loud bang caused her to slow to a stop. People continued to slam into her as they ran, terror in their eyes. Izzy didn't move from her position, trying to hold her ground as she began to take in her surroundings for the first time. The sound of gunshots rapidly firing ahead seemed to bring her into a good sense before bright lights exploded in the sky. She tripped backwards, startled as sparks from surrounding electric poles, sizzled and flew out, threaten to start fire to the little amount of surrounding greenery there was.

She finally comes to her sense and turns to join the crowd in running away, but isn't given more than a few moments before having to duck as a large fire truck flew over head, exploding on impact on an apartment building. Large pieces of concrete took to the sky before gravity started to throw them back down. Mother, fathers, and children cried for help. Izzy kept her hands on her head, watching what felt like a battle ground around her. Buildings threatening to fall as they were struck and electrical wires flew around, ready to snag and electrocute anyone who came in their path.

Trying to regain her breath, Izzy fleetingly backed up again and turned down an empty alleyway. The closest thing she could find as a safe haven was a large metal trash can, which she took to hiding behind. More and more people passed the alleyway, screaming and continuing to flee down the main road. She started to reach into her back pocket to pull out her phone, but her shaking hands dropped it.

A sudden screeching of tires triggered her to look up. A bright yellow sports Camaro peeled into the alleyway, it's lights and engine turning off as it came to a stand still. Izzy quickly grabbed onto the fire escape ladder as the ground shook under her, almost seeming to threaten to cave. Debris fell from different areas, fast and dangerously. Izzy put her hands over her head again before leaning towards the car.

"We need to find cover!" She tried to shout, but found the warning came out as more of a whisper. The car didn't move, nor did anyone exit at her warning.

Izzy bit her lip angrily before sneaking forward cautiously to the window. She hurriedly knocked on the glass. "Hey, it's not safe! We need to get out of here"

No response. She tapped on the window again trying to peer in, but the taint was too dark to see through. Another loud explosion caused the side of the building to fly out, pieces of brick hitting the car, along with the garbage bin. Izzy screamed ducking down, trying to cover her head. The rocks dropped roughly on top of her, the impact, slicing small cuts on her hands as she kept them up over her head. With still no response from the vehicles driver, she retreated back to the garbage bin.

Everything was quiet for a moment before…

STOMP. STOMP.

The ground shook with the footsteps. Izzy's eyes widened, her body shaking with every step. Holding her chest, she made a slow move to peek out from behind the garbage bin. The yellow car was gone, it was instead replaced with a large black and white standing…robot? Its bright red eyes scanned the area, a deep growl, sounding from its throat.

"I know you're here" The large figure snarled as it took another step. Izzy turned back, placing her back up against the garbage can. Her hands instinctively went to her mouth, trying to keep her breathing as quiet as she possibly could. A few more footsteps. Izzy looked up at the emergency ladder, before softly grasping it with one hand. If there was any possibility of an escape, that would be it.

But she wasn't given a chance to even consider as the metal trash bin was thrown roughly into the main street.  
Izzy quickly scurried back towards the building wall. The red eyed robot growled in disgust, his hand rapidly transforming into a cannon. A few orange sparks fly as it starts to glow as he pointed it towards her. Izzy was for a moment, mesmerized by the bright colors. If this was how she was going to die, then this was it. A single lone tear rolled down her cheek before she closed both eyes taking a deep breath. Waiting.

A large clash of metal and a large screeching of car breaks, threw Izzy out of her moment of peace. Her eyes flashed open just in time to see a smaller yellow and black robot land on top of the other's shoulders, madly throwing his curled fists towards the others red eyes.

The blue eyes flicker over to Izzy, momentarily. Izzy could have sworn it had a concerned expression on its face.

"_Run, forest run!" _

Izzy didn't need to be told twice, even if she was being told by some old playback of the movie Forest Gump.

She quickly got up and started making her way towards the main street. Her boots furiously pounded on the grey asphalt as her hair wipped out behind her.

The yellow bot was suddenly rolling roughly in front of her, his metal plating scratching into the concrete as he came to a halt. Startled, she skidded to a halt, slipping onto the pavement and landing hard. The light blue eyed robot stared down at her for only a split second before he beeped furiously. His arm slammed down around her and Izzy put her hands up, knowing the movement was black robot slammed his hand down onto the yellow bots in an attempt to get to Izzy. Metal fragments and yellow pain fell to the ground off the yellow bot.

"Bumblebee…You are foolish" He hissed. The camero bot beeped a few times before grabbing Izzy in his other hand. Frozen in fear, she grabbed desperately onto his fingers, trying to pull away, but almost as soon as she was picked up, she felt herself being thrown towards the other side of the alleyway.

In a bad attempt of tucking and rolling, Izzy hit the concrete roughly, her pants skidding across the pavement and splitting open. She managed to look up just in time to see the yellow robot be roughly punched into the ground.

"Bumblebee" She whispers lightly to herself. _There is something familiar about that name. There was something familiar about these robots. _

"Losing a battle, all because a lone insect got in the way? Pitiful"

Izzy paused for a second. Insect? Wait, was it referring to her in that way? She pursed her lips and turned back, but as Bumblebee brought his cannon forward and fired, she quickly turned back towards the ladder and started to stumble her way up. There wasn't time to be offended, nor was she in any position to be.

Her boots slipped on the wet metal, but she continued to climb up. The robots fought madly against each other below her as she continued. Izzy had only managed to get to the 8th floor before Bumblebee was roughly slammed into the building. Everything shook, causing her to loose her grip. A yelp escaped her mouth as she missed grabbing the ladder. She tumbled down a foot, attentively grabbing a window frame and holding on as tight as she could.

Her fingers already were shaking at the weigh and with a panic-stricken cry, she looked down. Bumblebee was pressed up against the wall, the black robots forearm, pressed tightly against his neck. At the sound of her sobs, his blue eyes quickly dashed up. Their gazes met for a split second. Izzy felt her fingers slipping even more and she managed to make out a small whisper.

"Help me"

It was all she could say. It was all she had time to say. Her fingers slipped, and she went tumbling down. Her arms flailed out towards the ladder, but it was too far away. Everything fading away as she fell.

Bumblebee beeped angrily and quickly shoved the black bot away, before bringing his cannon out and blasting a ball of orange energy towards him. In perfect time he reached up, grasping Izzy, mid fall, safely in his hand. He leapt up towards the building, his feet and hands slamming into the brick as he continued to climb further and further up.

He managed to get to the top and he quickly rolled over, gently releasing Izzy onto the ground. She knelt down immediately, vomit projecting a few feet in front of her. Her gasps of air were long and wheezy before she slowly looked up at the yellow and black robot before her.

Bumblebee beeped a few times with concern, starting to kneel down to look at her, but she instinctively kicked her feet out to back away from him. He put his hands up in surrender and took a step back before looking down below. A quick scan proved, wherever that other robot was, he was gone now.

"You're one of those robots, aren't you? Th-those…Autobots?" He gave the softest of nods. Izzy painfully started to stand, eyeing him. "Autobots, are the good guys, right?"

"_We aren't going to….hurt you" _The radio hummed.

"Bumblebee, right?" He nods again. Izzy swallows and brings her hands together nervously. "Well…thank you. I'm sorry for getting in the way"

Bee shakes his head and kneels towards her. Izzy held her breath, trying to be brave, her knee's shaking uncomfortably.

"_Are you hurt?" _He cautiously brought his finger up to point at her forehead and then her hands. She reached up gingerly to touch her face. Sure enough, a large cut going down her forehead, to the side of her cheek was bleeding. The sight of the dark blood on her hand made her woozy and she widened her stance in an attempt to stop things from spinning.

"No, I'm alright…Oh fuck" A few concerned beeps. Izzy stared down at her hands, blinking rapidly. The sight of blood had always made her queasy but now was not the time. A giant robot alien that could kill her with a simple twitch of his fingers was standing right in front of her. Her main concern should be getting down and getting the hell out of there. "I think I just need to…"

Her knee hit the ground. Forcibly she opened her eyes wider, cursing angrily at herself. "I'm fine" She reassured him as he beeped many times in concern. In a last ditch effort that he would leave her alone she gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up before she crumbled to the floor.

Izzy could hear a few beeps and felt the cold wind hitting her skin before she was completely passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

"_When do you think she is going to wake up?"_

_ "I don't know! You always assume I understand how humans work. I don't! Okay?"_

_ "Don't get your cervos in a bunch, I was just asking a question."_

Izzy blinked her eyes a few times. The bright light above her was exceptionally harsh, making it hard for her eyes to adjust. She blinked several times, before she was finally able to see more than white.

Disoriented and clearly feeling dizzy, Izzy sat up, her eyes darting around her new surroundings. It was a white and grey, empty room, accompanied by a few simple beds with what looked to be hospital sheets.

She pushed the covers back and stared down at her new outfit; a hospital gown. With a swirl of yellow and blue colors across it that could easily be mistaken as barf, it was not the most flattering thing to be wearing.

Izzy rubbed her eyes before looking back up at the ceiling, as if everything might change with a second glance. Nothing changed. She reached up above her eyebrow to feel a large bandage wrapped around her forehead that continued around the back of her head. But who had wrapped it?

She gently put her legs over the edge of bed and shakily got up.

"Hello?" She called. No response, but she really wasn't expecting one. The silence was almost deafening. This wasn't a hospital, nor did it look to be a residential house.

A sickening feeling hit her chest as she wondered if maybe she was going to be one of those girls who was kidnapped and sold as a sex slave like in the movies. Except real life doesn't turn out like the movies. There are no nights in shining armor coming to the rescue in real life and If you were fortunate enough to be saved by one, count your blessings because you escaped death once and you won't be able to again.

Izzy pushed the thoughts away as they started to knot up in her chest. She opened the cold silver handle of the door and cautiously walked out. It was an odd hallway, the ceilings as tall as the room she had just been in. It almost made her disoriented at the fact that ceilings were so tall.

Perhaps the building used to be a greenery for tall tree's? It seemed unlikely.

Her bare feet slapped across the cold tiles as she continued down the dim lit hallway towards what looked to be the opening of a large room.

Her body instinctively reacted as a firm hand grabbed her should. Rapidly, she turned her body, slamming her elbow behind her. It hit its target, blood quickly spattering the wall.

"SHIT!"

Izzy turned towards the man, her fists up. The man stumbled back holding his nose, the profanity spewing out of his mouth. A snarl escaped his lips, but he paused, eying Izzy. She backed away, her fists up, ready for whatever was to come. He quickly put his hands up away from his now bloody nose. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you"

Izzy glared at the man. He had shorter hair with skin tanned from multiple hours in the sun. He must have been at least in his 40's. The man had a wise look to him, definitely not a serial killer look, but then again, how can you tell who is a serial killer?

The man's camo pants and large boots looked rather professional, possibly military styled, but strum around his waist was a gun. Izzy's eyes instantly were trained on the gun and she backed up, ready to sprint.

"Wait!" The man put his hands up, taking another step forward. Izzy paused. He reached down slowly towards the gun, one hand still in the air. He took it from his belt and set it gently on the floor. "It's okay…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you"

Blood was starting to dribble down his nose and to his lips. He kept his mouth shut for a moment, letting the blood continue down to his chin. He kept his hands up, doing anything he could to try not to alarm her. "My name is William. William Lennox. Captain Lennox here."

Izzy looked around the hallway, looking for some sign or person to validate what he was saying.

"Where is here?"

"Do you remember what happened?" Lennox cautiously asked, before allowing his hands to fall down to his sides.

"I-I'm not sure what I saw" Izzy shook her head. "Where am I?"

"You are in a protective base. Underground."

Izzy chewed on her lip, deep in thought. The explosions, the bodies, the light…the…the robots.

"I saw these…things" She started. Lennox sucked in a small amount of air and nodded, gently urging her to continue. "They were huge. I think I talked to one of them…It was one of those autobots…right? I know the government hasn't really come out and said they are real, but all those photos on the conspiracy sights look so real. I swear that is what I saw…. "

Lennox pauses, staring at her as if contemplating his answer. Izzy sighs and shakes her head.

"I'm not crazy. Or at least I don't think. It's all so blurry. Maybe that was a dream. I don't know what was real from last night."

Lennox paused before pressing his finger to his ear. Izzy could see a small hearing piece in there, which he listened intently to. After a few awkward moments of silence, he turned towards Izzy.

"There was an attack to the city last night. I can assure you it was all human based. Terrorists. And…you know those rumors about the robotic lifeforms have been debunked many times. What you might be thinking you saw, are vivid dreams from the pain medication that you were given. We were unable to warn you of the side effects because you were not responding"

Izzy nodes hesitantly.

"So…why am I here? Why am I not at the hospital?"

Lennox pauses, thinking about the question asked of him. He wasn't sure how to response. The silence became awkward again before finally Izzy shook her head. "You know what, never mind. Just please, let me go home"

Lennox gave a curt nod.

…

…..

Izzy pressed her hand to her forehead as she watched the elevator make it slow rise towards level 5. Every move she made, it felt like someone was hammering at her head. She couldn't decide if it was because of a head injury or because of the mass amount of drugs they must have pumped into her system at the hospital. _Hospital? What even was that place?_

It had been like nothing she had ever seen. The high ceilings, the amount of what looked to be special force military men and woman at every corner as she was escorted out. Odd, didn't even express what she thought of the place.

The elevator stopped, causing her to lurch forward for a moment. She held her mouth, groaning, looking sick.

The elevator opened, and she stumbled out, clutching her keys. Eventually she managed to get her door open.

The angry meowing of a cat that hadn't been feed in over 24 hours filled the silence. She pushed past him. "Hold on Igby, I think I'm gonna-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as she quickly brought her hand to her mouth. In an instance she dove towards the bathroom, puking up the little food she still had in her stomach. For a few moments, she gripped the toilet. "Igby….let me tell you, you have an easy life"

The flush of the toilet confirmed the ending of the vile, as Izzy walks out of the bathroom, looking pale and depleted. She landed roughly on the couch, before wincing in pain.

Her hands and fingers were bandaged, a few of the cuts which were not deemed worthy enough to be covered had dried blood around them.

Flashbacks of the ground exploding under her feet made her groan, quickly sitting up, holding her head. That was real. It had to be…Could it be?

She got up and walked up to the window, staring at the rising smoke in the distance. _Without a doubt that area would be marked off, no one allowed in or out. Unless they had already taken everyone alive out? Like her. _

_ Or did they close it off because something else was still there? Something they were trying to hide?_

Her thoughts raced through the possibilities. If she got caught, a perfect excuse would be she dropped a purse or wallet and came back to retrieve it. Or even as simple as looking for a friend.

The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. The amount of people crushed under the falling buildings would be in the hundreds. Here she was selfishly chasing after the idea that she may have seen something and wanted to go explore. Explore and climbing over what was essentially a mass grave.

It took her many moments to finally force herself away from the window, with an agreement and set of rules in her mind. She would not go near the destroyed part of the city. She would confide herself to the place where the fight occurred. Whatever evidence she could find there, if any to prove that maybe she wasn't crazy in the head. That it wasn't the medications. Or maybe to prove it was.

Izzy changed into a black, oversized sweatshirt, vans and black pants. She kissed Igby a goodbye with the phrase "curiosity killed the cat" playing on repeat through her head. If curiosity could kill a cat, she wondered what it would do to a human being.

…

…

The various amount of guards that blocked a perimeter around the city, would make anyone nervous. With their radios at the ready and heavy weaponry swung around their shoulders, these soldiers were not there to play games. They were not there for cleanup purposes. They were there searching for someone, or maybe something.

It was for this reason that Izzy hung back, hiding behind a smashed mini van, watching each and every one of their steps carefully. She recognized one of the men. Lennox.

He was armed up to the teeth, a large protective jacket on that differed from the crew around him. Izzy could immediately tell there was a respect for him. He was higher in ranks. But what would a military man be doing at a so called "Hospital"

She watched the guards patterns, over and over till it was memorized. How they walked, where they looked. It was almost like a video game. The repetition they continued, over and over, with only small differences each time. There were no blind spots, every spot was checked once they came around, but when they had their backs turned, was another subject entirely.

Izzy crept out silently from behind the mini van and quickly made her way under an old Chevy truck. The heavy guard boots were coming up by her left and she forced herself to slide under faster. The zipper of her sweatshirt scrapped on the concrete.

The boots stopped moving. Izzy held her breath. A small light from a flashlight crept up the alleyway behind her before the guard followed his instinct to check that area.

Izzy wasted no time and crawled out from the front of the truck, sneaking along side the wall before diving into the familiar alley way. Just like she suspected, it was dark. The apartment buildings had been evacuated, leaving it deathly silent.

She felt like her heart had fallen out of her chest as she ran her fingers over the large trash can, that had felt at one point to be her safe haven.

"Exactly where I remember you being" She whispered. She let her fingers fall from the bin as she continued to walk forward. The pavement was smashed to bits, yet again, no surprise to her. She touched the ladder for a moment, looking up.

"HEY!"  
Izzy didn't need to turn towards the sound to know it was directed towards her. A guard quickly flashed his bright light on her. No longer hidden by the darkness, she swallowed deeply. He started to run towards her, three other guards joining behind him.

In a quick panic, she grabbed onto the ladder and started to climb its slippery steps, once again.

"LENNOX, WE GOT SOMEONE!"

"Human or decepticon?" The radio barked back in question. Izzy didn't stop climbing as she questioned the statement that had been made. They were looking for something nonhuman. She knew it! A sense of pride washed over her, only momentarily before she realized that sneaking into a huge private government shut down area, that apparently involved aliens, could very much be the end of her life.

This only made her legs pump faster up the ladder.

"Do we shoot it?" She heard one of the guards ask down below. She couldn't help but let out an anxious "NO, YOU DON'T!" Down to them.

"Human…pretty sure human" The guard responded into his radio.

"Don't shoot. Contain on top of building" Lennox's voice could be heard through the radio even at the top of the building as Izzy rolled on top of it. She stared down at the ladder for a split second to see two of the guards starting to climb up towards her.

"I'm sorry. I really would prefer we don't do this" Izzy shook her head, waving them away. They continued up the ladder.

A gust of wind and loud shuttering was unexpected, almost pushing Izzy over edge of the building. Her hands desperately waved out in front of her as she tried to hold her balance. A helicopter rose above her, the light shines down directly down.

It was almost blinding. All of this for a human? Bullshit. She knew it now, they were looking for something. But what?

The two guards quickly got to the top of the ladder and paced forward, their guns out towards Izzy.

"GET ON YOUR KNEE'S!"

"I'm sorry, I was just curios-I-I wasn't-" Izzy blubbered, tears threatening to leak from

her eyes. She slowly got down on her knee's cringing at the thought of one of the large guards tackling her. One knee hit the ground and she looked up for a moment, about to ask them to be gentle, but her focus was waivered towards an incoming light.  
Her words trapped in her throat as she watched the small light grow brighter and larger as it came towards them. It had caught her attention long enough for one of the guards to question what she was looking at. But unlike her, he did not watch with curiosity. No. He knew a threat when he saw one. His eyes widened and he turned his gun towards the light, his fingers shaking on his radio.

"Target, incoming! Leave sight now! Before-"

He wasn't able to continue his sentence as a small missile exploded the helicopters back off. The fire raised to the sky, the occupants burnt to a cinder within seconds.

The helicopter still was attempting to stay up, but with a missing tail, all it could do was start to spin madly out of control. Right towards them.

Izzy rapidly turned, breaking towards the edge of the building. There was no time to pause and question if she would make the jump. There was no doubt in her mind what would happen if she didn't jump.

With a loud groan of effort, she pushed against the edge of the building, her legs outstretching towards the other apartments roof. The seconds that passed in the air came and went quickly, giving her only a instant to realize she was descending. She braced for impact, felt her feet hit the ground and allowed her body to continue the momentum as she rolled hard against the concrete of the top of the building.

Her body continued to roll, momentum pushing her until she came to a halt. Her breath was ragged as she breathed in finding that she was having troubles. Cough after cough, trying to inhale the sweet air, but each one was pained.

Reluctantly, she rolled onto her back, her hands to her chest as she tried to calm herself. The explosions continued, lighting up the sky, the shouting of the soldiers, drowned out from the pounding in her ears.

With her breath finally under control, Izzy pushed against the ground, forcing her feet flat on the pavement. She stumbled, holding her arm, as the bright flames in front of her drew her attention.

The helicopter looked to be nothing more than a pile of scrap metal left to burn. No chance of survivors. Quietly walking through its flame, was Blackout. Although she was not aware of his name, she would soon it enough know.

His red eyes scanned around the area, locking onto her momentarily. She didn't move, frozen in fear, but it wasn't her he was after. His optics flicked away with disinterest as he turned to look down below.

The chaos below was unfathomable. Vehicles flipped over, blood and concrete mixed around the various bodies, smoke and fire surrounding many soldiers who looked dazed. Orders were being shouted, but not many people could respond. Blackout paused, scanning the area.

"You're killing them" Izzy couldn't help but blurt out. The tears ran down her cheeks, her eyes bloodshot with emotion. Blackout finished scanning before giving her the smallest eyes flick of attention.

"When I have what I want, you'll all be dead" He stood up straighter and raised his cannon, pointing it down towards the few remaining survivors. "But for now…you work as lovely bate"

An engine roared and he turned his attention to a blue and red semi truck barreling its way down the road. "Oh good, Starscream. We have our company"

A jet screamed by, before it quickly transformed, landing roughly on the top of a restaurant. The roof titles cave in under the weight.

"Friends" The newcomer hissed, giving a small smile. His long fingers gripped the roof, threatening to stab through the wall.

Izzy limped to the edge of the building and watched the red and blue fire truck transform with ease. This robot was taller, built exceptionally well, his eyes blazing a bright blue. There was something about him that gave off a different feeling.

He positioned himself carefully in front of the injured soldiers, his cannons glowing at his side.

"Just you today, Optimus?" Starscream beamed before dropping down for a closer look. Optimus shifted his weight, wearily eyeing the two red eyed bots, sizing him up.

"You can both still leave when you have your sparks in tact"

Izzy approached the side of the building, before cautiously looking down. At least 20 soldiers were dead, their bodies beginning to burn from the approaching fire. Behind Optimus, 10 soldiers were down, a few injured, looking on jadedly but safe. Or where they? All that stood between them and the red eyed bots, where this newcomer. Izzy watched the confrontation with genuine interest.

Blackout jumped down, causing the ground to shake as he landed. He walked towards Optimus, his hand transforming into a propeller and hissing as it spun. "You know what we want, Prime"

"And you're outnumbered" Starscream hissed, dropping down to the other side of him. Izzy could only watch as Optimus took another step back. He looked behind him, meeting the eyes of Lennox who shook his head hopelessly.

"I have no radio contact" Lennox grimaced hearing the words come out his mouth before he turned back to his bleeding comrade.

"Tell us where it is, Prime" Starscream hissed. "And we'll let these few live"

Optimus shifted his foot one last time, before planting it, his optics shifted back and fourth.

Izzy could feel the tension in the air, as the bots eyed each other. But the movement that she saw next, wasn't predicted. Sneaking in the shadows of the buildings to her left, she could spot two pairs of blue eyes. She squinted, turning to face this new arrival.

The bright yellow was the first thing to become visible as Bumblebee stepped out of the shadows, pressed against the wall. He looked up at her, before putting his finger to his face in a "Shhh" motion towards her. Izzy nodded instinctively. She trusted him and although she was not sure why, it seemed like the better option than the other ones.

The robot behind Bee came out of the shadows as well, its cannons large and glowing. They both paused, peaking around the corner before slinking back. There wasn't much time left to attack and from their position they wouldn't have the element of surprise.

"Fine" The whirling blade on Blackouts hand spun faster and he stepped forward, forcing it towards Prime. Izzy instinctively screamed, causing him to pause. All three bots looked to her.

Quick on her feet, she pointed behind them, trembling.

"Robots! Incoming!"

The two deceptions instantly turned away from her, their weapons up and ready. By the time they realized it was a decoy, it was too late as Bumblebee and Ironhide dashed out from behind the building. Bumblebee grabbed onto Starscream, pushing him roughly through the restaurant walls as Ironhide locked in on Barricade.

Izzy glanced to Optimus who was leaning down, helping a few soldiers run into an alleyway to safety. He looked up at her, eye to optic. There was respect in the nod he gave her. She returned the gesture and watched him swing his fist forward, knocking perfectly into Barricades chest.

Izzy couldn't help but feel small in that moment. Small yet absolutely exhilarated. She walked towards the edge of the building, as the fight continued to rage on. The blue eyed robots, fighting victoriously, their numbers and sheer determination continuing to force them forward.

A bright light flashed past her and she ducked down as two helicopters stayed above the fight. The ammunition carefully fired down at the decepticons was enough to force them to recognize the loss.

"This isn't over!" Star scream hissed, as he transformed mid air. His jet form was sleek, fast and most importantly- convenient. With a quick burst of light, he was taking off into the sky with his comrade.

If Izzy would have stayed on top of the roof, she would have seen Lennox carefully picking his way through the debris. There was sadness in his eyes, seeing his fallen soldiers. His fallen friends. He gripped his vest tighter as he continued the walk forward, his eyes focused on the three ahead of him.

"I am sorry..." Ironhide said softly to his human companion. Lennox didn't say anything as he surveyed the area.

"They are using us now to their advantage" He shakes his head irritably. "We're more in danger now than we ever were before. Hell, we weren't even in danger before"

Bumblebee beeps sadly, kneeling down close to Lennox. "We need to get them out of populated cities Bee." Lennox choked on his words and swallowed deeply, trying to gain composure. "There were children in these buildings. These men and women out here…they have families. People they cared about. It could have been someone like Sam"

Bee stiffens slightly, and Lennox sighs heavily and gently places his hand on the yellow bots leg. "I'm sorry. I know you miss him…I do too, I just…" He puts his hands to his head. "I can't do this any more Prime"

Optimus listened to the conversation from a few steps away, but his mind was elsewhere. His optics scanned the top of a few buildings, but he was unable to locate the human he had seen previously. He turned back to Lennox.

"They are using destruction as a way to separate us. They have tried this before"

"Their aim was never us. It was never humans. They didn't give a shit about us"

Optimus blinks thoughtfully before bringing himself to meet Lennox's gaze again.

"This wasn't meant to happen-"

"Well, figure out a solution. Something!" Lennox yells, spit dripping from his chin. He is about to open his mouth again when he stops again, his eyes freezing. The bots follow his gaze.

A little girls lifeless body, is crushed under the doorway of an apartment, her hands still clutching a doll.

Lennox eyes water and he puts his hands to his mouth, biting down hard on the leather glove. Blood seeps down as he screams, trying to do anything to suppress the sadness inside.

Bumblebee's eyes flicker low in recognition, a low beep barely escaping his vocal box. There were so many things he wanted to say, but regardless if he had his voice, he wouldn't have known how to say them.

A world they were supposed to be protecting, yet they had caused more pain than good the last few years. It was a thought that Bumblebee contemplated a lot but never spoke upon. Not because he didn't think the others would want to hear, but because he was positive they had all been thinking it as well.


	3. Chapter 3

The desert wind cut through the browning weeds in the mountain top. Tumbleweed was thrown across the deserted roads. Well. Almost deserted. With phone in hand, earbuds shoved deeply in her ear, Izzy ran down the empty street. Sweat dripped down her forehead which she quickly wiped away with her sweatshirt sleeve.

This was a part of LA not many people knew about. The "country" part. When you think "L.A" you think big city scrapers, or the beach. Maybe you even think about the vast party lifestyle you can achieve there. Or as of recently, you think about the various of news reports that talked about the possibility of a "Transformers attack"

Which was the exact reason Izzy found herself running down the road. Every part of her body ached from the past few days worth of tumbling, but nothing hurt worse that the repeating memories in her head. The dead bodies. The smell. But what worried her the most, was how involved she had been.

Hell, she felt like a hero in that moment. The Autobots had won and that is what she had wanted. Or at least…what she had thought she wanted. She didn't know much about either side. But that blue and red bot definitely was protecting the people below him and that was enough to make her decision.

She wondered if it would be worth it to turn herself in. The guilt that had built up in her system was almost too much to bare. Izzy had wondered if she had been a distraction away from the real threat that night. Maybe less people would have died.

She pushed that thought away and forced herself into a sprint, her music blaring through her headphones. By the time she reached her destination, she was covered in sweat, her hair slicked back in a greasy mess.

The long driveway she walked up was made of gravel, but the tall gate that stood in front of it, proved this was no ordinary house. Izzy caught her breath before hitting the call button.

"Yes?"

"It's Izzy" She managed to huff out.

"Is Markus expecting you?"

Izzy put her hands on her knee's, still trying to catch her breath.

"Probably not, just tell him I'm here, would yah?"

There was a irritated sigh from the security guard and the intercom fuzzed before he spoke again.

"I can't just let you in. Sorry"

"Markus! It's Izzy!" She yelled into the com. There is a pause followed by a shuffling of noise.

"Dude, I told you, just let her in. Damn, you take your job way to seriously. Hey dude, come on in" Rap music starts to play through the intercom.

The gate starts to open and Izzy squeezed her way through.

…

…

The surround sound echoes through the many marble hallways.

Izzy sits on a white couch, a blunt in her mouth, nodding her head to the beat. To her left, Markus lays on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He was in what he called his "comfy" clothes, which was still the top brand names. A small gold chain hung from his neck while a fat ring on his index finger, dully shined in the florescent light. He had made his money in creating his own business. Clothing business to be exact. And being an attractive man, he was able to find a lot of attractive woman who longed to be around him. It was easy to ask them to rep his clothing line- therefore launching his brand to be one of the new clothing lines to be reckoned with.

But Izzy knew who he really was. Hardworking yes, but under all the clothing and riches, he was a funny, chill and exceptionally intelligent young man. She had the upmost admiration for him. They had seen each other through the worst possible times. She had slept on his couch at one point, just like he had slept on hers.

She found herself thinking back on the memories with admiration.

"Yo, you good?"

Izzy blinked, turning towards him. He was upside down on the couch, the blood rushing to his face, making his skin turn to the shade of a blueberry.

"What are you doing" She giggled.

"I don't know how I got like this, but I'm too lazy to move now" He groans and reaches over, taking the blunt from her fingers. He takes a long puff and hands it back to her.

"Have you kept up with the news from downtown?" She asked cautiously. He cocked an eyebrow thinking before he pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"Dude…that shit was crazy. Like, we have had some crazy shooters, but straight up terrorists?"

Izzy purses her lips and reaches forward to a bottle on the coffee table in front of her. She takes a swig of the tequila, swishing it around in her mouth, before swallowing. She embraced the burn it gave to temporarily take her mind of things.

"I was there"

Markus spits up a laugh and takes another puff. The laugh turns into a rough cough as he clocks her expression. She is serious.

"Oh shit, seriously? What was it like?"

Izzy sat still, refusing to let herself think too much about it.

"It's hard to explain. But that's why I am here…I need to ask a favor. I need a place to stay. Away from that area. Would it be okay if I stayed here tonight?"

"Of course dude, you know you are always welcome here" He offers a bottle and she laughs and takes it. "You need this more than me"

And she did. She longed for an escape. Drugs and alcohol wasn't something she always turned to, but when she did, she went all in. And as everything around her started to get fuzzy each minute she continued her binge, she felt peace, knowing she was safe.

Or at least…thinking she was.

….

….

When Izzy woke up, it wasn't because she got the good night sleep she had been craving or because Markus woke her up. No. Instead, it was the cool breeze from the open front door that woke her.

It was the first thing she noticed when she sat up. Markus was still passed out on the opposite couch, while the security guard appeared to be nowhere in sight. She wondered if he had stepped out for a moment to enjoy the brisk desert air, but the room was chilled to a point she knew the door had to have been open for a while.

Wrapping the blanket around herself, she got up to shut the door, but not without peering out to inspect the outdoors. It was calm, a slight wind that Izzy appreciated.

But there was something else. A scent that burned her nose. She took a deep inhale, tasting the sourness of the air. It was burning. Something was burning.

Izzy jumped out of the house, her bare feet dashing across the cement driveway. The further she backed up, the more the light started to grow brighter and brighter, as if the depths of hell had raised up to the surface.

The mountains behind Markus's house were set ablaze, the flames furiously tearing at the dry vegetation, rapidly descending towards the property.

Izzy could barely breath as she forced her body back towards the house, every step, larger and longer than the last.

"Markus!" Was what she tried to scream, but nothing but a soft squeak escaped. She grabbed his shoulder, shaking him out of his deep slumber. "Markus, you need to get up. Fire. There's fire"

This managed to get his attention and he sat up, rubbing his face.

"Mhmm, where"

"It's outside. Right outside the house!" Her voice cracked with fear. He watched her, questioning her credibility. She didn't let up.

"Shit. Where is Frank?!" He demanded, staggering off the couch.

"I don't know! The door was open and I walked out and I saw the fire and-"

She isn't give a chance to say another word as the entire ground shook. Izzy's knees hit the ground before she reached around to grab the banister for balance. Her eyes went to Markus, who was on the ground, lying flat with his hands over his head. The large went just as fast as it had come. Izzy exhaled quickly with relief.

"You okay?...Markus"

He didn't look at her. His body was stiff as he gawked out the open door. Izzy followed his glance and froze.

Blackout. She recognized the robots build immediately. Although only his legs were in view, blocking the front of the house, it was unmistakably him.

His stance shifted as he got down on one knee.

Izzy could feel her heart pounding and instinctively she got up, grabbing Markus's arm, pulling him up and rushing into the kitchen. She squatted down, resting her back up against the fridge.

The red light of Blackouts eyes glinted off of the smooth flooring as he peered in through the door.

Markus's hand tightened on her arm to get her attention. The color had drained from his face as he slowly pointed forward. Izzy followed his finger to an open window, the curtains lightly blowing in the breeze.

"Ravage…"

Markus quickly put his finger down, shrinking as much as he could at the sound of Blackouts voice. Izzy quickly put her hand over his mouth as his breathing became elevated and loud.

The next sound was undeniable. Not because Izzy had heard it before, but because she knew what a dog sounded like when it ran across a metal floor. The claws clicking ever so lightly. But this wasn't lightly. No not at all.

Metal on metal screeched as something snarled angrily, banging through front door. His ears flicked forward as he homed in on every possible sound he could find. The claws as long as butcher knives, scratched the floor everywhere he stepped.

It was like Cujo, except ten times worse. It was Ravage.

"Find the girl"

Izzy felt her entire body grow hot. It was as if all the blood was draining out of it at that moment, a preview of what would happen if she were caught.

The fire was growing closer, lighting the house ever so slightly with an orange glow.

_It's to flush me out…They want me to escape._

Her thoughts faced as she looked around the kitchen for anything that could lead her to belive she could escape.

A cooking pot was on the counter to her right. Izzy's eyes locked on it, eyes widening with an idea.

She pressed her finger to her lips towards Markus. He nodded ever so slightly in understanding. Gently, she removed her other hand from his mouth.

Her steps were slow and carefully planned. Her fingers were shaking as she grasped the pan and lifted it off the counter with no sound.

A window is smashed open as Ravage angrily slashes through it. His tail flicks back and fourth, destroying the furniture around him. Feathers fly from opened pillows and stuffing spills out onto the floor.

Izzy takes a deep breath and points down to the pan, and then gestures away in a throwing motion. Markus nods quickly, following what she is saying. She points to the open window and then back to him.

"We have no time! Tear it down!" Black out snarled. Ravage snarls and runs down the hallway, bursting though the walls, attacking the beds.

Izzy peaked out from behind the fridge, watching the large wolf like robot tear everything around him. Once he turned his head, she quickly through the pan. It bounced loudly off a coffee table before landing on the floor.

Ravage was up within a second, running down the hallway it was near.

"Go, go!" Izzy whispered, pushing Markus to his feet. He tripped up and quickly climbed his way on the counter. It was neither a graceful fall out the window…or a silent one. Izzy cringed but forced herself up. Even with alerting Ravage of their presence, it was now or never.

She bolted up from the ground and took running towards the window.

Izzy didn't look behind her. She couldn't. Time was of the essence. But if she had, she would have seen Ravage snarling as he charged forward, eager to impress awaiting boss outside.

Izzy didn't climb up on the counter. She leapt over it, narrowly missing the window frame with her head.

Her body bounced when it hit the ground, temporary knocking the wind out of her but the adrenaline she was feeling to was too strong for her to notice. She picked herself up, small rocks falling from her scraped knees.

"IZZY, OVER HERE!"

A black jeep wrangler comes flying around the corner of the driveway, leaving black tire skid marks on the paved driveway. Markus is in the drivers seat.

Izzy takes off running, her arms pumping as she hears large angry footsteps behind her.

"COME HERE INSECT"

Izzy waves her hand away from the house. "Go! GO!"

Markus hits the gas and takes off, right at the perfect moment as Izzy jumped forward, narrowly missing her grip. She hangs on tightly as the Jeep spins off the driveway towards the main road. The wind slams against her face as she manages to get a better grip to hoist herself up onto the roof of the car.

Music is blasting out of the car window as Markus continues driving. Izzy dares to look behind her to see Ravage furiously pounding down the pavement after them. She turns back and hits the roof of the car. "GO, GO FASTER!"

"WHAT?!" He screams back before turning sharply onto another road. Izzy cursed as her body is thrown to the side with the momentum. She manages to keep her grip, sliding up the top of the vehicle. She leans over the side.

"TURN OFF THE MUSIC"

"WHAT?!"

"TURN OFF-" She stops herself, knowing it is pointless. Izzy carefully slides to the other side of the roof and hops down though the window. She flips the radio switch off.

Everything was calm. It almost seemed like they were taking a relaxing road trip. They forgot about the fire that raged behind them as they drove through the mountains, eyeing the beauty of mother nature before them.

"We're gonna die, aren't we." It wasn't a question. Markus had come to a conclusion that it was over. Izzy rubbed her forehead, shooting him an irritated glance.

"Way to ruin a mood, Mark"

"I mean, unless you have a better idea? Is there somewhere we can go?" He questioned her, desperately.

"I mean, I don't….I don't really…"  
Her words trailed off as she thought about what there was to do.

"There is a giant robot looking dog thing on our heels and these perfect mountains are gonna turn to city traffic soon. Please…think fast"

Izzy had many ideas. None of them in which she knew how to execute. There were people out there she knew would help in this situation.

_How the hell am I supposed to contact them? Do they have some kind of like…giant batman light I can shine in the sky? Or how…do I call 911? _

Nervously, she brings her phone up to show Markus.

"No. We are not calling 911. This is not a 911 situation. In fact, I don't know what the fuck kind of situation this is" Markus voice squeaks with uncomfortable fear.

Izzy wasn't given the opportunity to respond. Blackout had caught up to them. Which they should have figured he would. A jeep car that has shit for gas milege vs a literal helicopter? Not much of a chance.

Black out transformed, slamming his hand into the concrete of the room. It flew up into the air, in beautiful broken formation. Markus screamed, slamming on the breaks, causing the tires to turn, spinning them out of control.

Izzy kept one hand clenched on the door handle while another on her chest, trying to calm her beating chest. Her body violently jerked to the side and she lost her grip on the handle. Her arms both shot to the roof.

It felt like everything was in slow motion. Izzy knew the reason her hands were on the roof. Gravity. The car was not the right away up. They had hit air and were now rolling through it. The flying part, seemed almost euphoric to Izzy. The feeling. Like a rollercoaster that you couldn't see where the next turn was.

But the reality of the situation was what ruined the small millisecond she had of peace. Because she knew, the ame gravity that was going to send those giant slats of concrete back to the ground, was the same gravity that would send the car back to the ground.

Her body was slammed hard to the left where her head slammed against the side of the car. The car rolled multiple times, the metal roof caving in, glass shattering and flying through the air.

The airbags deployed, slamming bother Izzy and Markus back into their seat. Izzy was able to make out on last final moment of Markus slump in his seat before they rolled again, her head hitting the side of the car again. Black.


	4. Chapter 4

There's many things that are scary about life. What is going to happen in it? Are you going to grow up and achieve everything that your parents wanted you to? Will you find the love of your life, raise kids and have a family? Will you make it past 21 so you will be able to legally drink at a bar?

There are no guarantees in life. It is all a gamble. Every choice you make, can highly influence your life. Good or bad.

People say that they see a flash of their life during near death experiences. Flashes of memories which can be considered a blissful moment.

But that hadn't happened to Izzy. Maybe it was because she really wasn't supposed to die today.

As she hung upside down in the crushed Jeep, the first thought that repeated over and over in her mind since she had woken up was- "I am alive. I am alive. I am alive."

Louder and louder, it screamed, urging her forward. Her animal instinct for survival was kicking in.

"I'm alive" She muttered out loud, a mix of drool and blood, dripping from her lips. Her eyes twitched before they opened, surveying her surroundings.

It was dark. Time had passed, and the moon was the only light that allowed her to see anything. The ringing in her ears was so loud, she knew if there was anything happening outside the jeep, she wouldn't be able to hear it.

Weakly, Izzy brought her hand up to the seatbelt, forcing it to unlock. Her body dropped roughly on the roof of the car.

"Markus?" Her voice croaked as she crawled towards him. He didn't respond. He was limp in his seat, the seatbelt holding his body to the chair, his face turning blue from being upside down. Izzy pushed herself forward to his seatbelt and managed to poke it.

As Markus fell, Izzy succeeded in catching his head before it hit the ground. She gently placed it down and reached for his neck for a pulse. He was alive and breathing. But was he safe?

Izzy lightly ran her fingers through Markus dark hair, as if it was therapeutic. Her eyes were clouded with emotion, her forehead burrowed in thought. Her fingers stopped, and she looked down at her close friend. He looked as if he was at a peaceful nap, but his forehead caked in blood, showed another story.

Izzy backed up, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"I'm going to get help. I promise"

She turned towards the front windshield. It was shattered like a spiderweb, threatening to fall, which was exactly what Izzy wanted. She carefully brought her foot up and kicked.

Once.

Twice.

And as usually, third time was the charm.

The glass caved, falling onto the damp grass. Izzy pushed her way out the opening, carefully avoiding the shards of glass as she made her way onto the ground. Her fingernails dug into the dirt as she continued to push herself forward.

"HELP!" She screamed to no one in particular. Her lungs were heaving for air as she crawled forward.

The brushes in front of her rustled and she stopped.

"I need help" She whispered.

She wasn't sure what she had expected to be on the other side of those bushes. A child that was wondering the mountains too late? A drunk teenager? Maybe a police officer who had seen the whole thing. Someone. Anyone.

A red glow started to seep through the dry patches of weeds. Izzy pushed herself up to her knees.

"I'm over here" Her voice croaked with effort.

The slick black and grey paw sunk under the sand with weight. Ravage pushed his head through the bushes, towering over Izzy as she stared back. She looked on in defeat, her body going limp.

Ravage pushed himself completely out of the bushes, stopping in front of her. His tail flicked side to side as he eyed the girl kneeling in front of him.

"Go ahead" She murmured looking down at the ground. Ravage got up, prowling around her in a circle. He seemed hesitant. "What the hell are you waiting for?" She glared at him.

"Me"

The voice was oh to familiar. She didn't bother turning around as the footsteps came up behind her.

"I don't know anything" Izzy started running through different pleas in her head as Blackout turned to face her. "It was a wrong place, wrong time"  
"Where are the Autobots keeping the Cyrote?"

"The Cyrote? What? I-I don't-"

Ravage pushed his metal snout roughly into Izzy's chest, slamming her onto the ground. Izzy didn't have a moment to think as his paw pressed down on her chest, his claws slowly curving, threatening to stab her.

"I don't know what it is! I swear! They took me somewhere once and-"

"Where?" Blackout barked.

"I don't remember where it was. But it's in this town! It-It had a lot of beds. Underground. Old hospital is a possibility." Izzy shuddered, trying to compress more memories. The more she talked, the longer she stayed alive. "It was renovated to have high ceilings and… it was brick"

"WHERE!?" He snarled, losing his patience.

"…Somewhere on the east side. That's all I know, I-I swear"

Steam blew out of Ravages nostrils as he pressed harder on her chest. She pushed at the claws that were pressing dangerously closer.

"A waste of time…I don't like wasting time" Blackout turned away and looked up to the sky.

"Please…I'll do anything you want"

"You know what I want?" He turned towards her.

"What?"

Ravage jumped off her and Blackout raised his cannon. Izzy didn't move from the ground, staring at the bright glow from the weopons.

_Two cannons in my face, within three days. If I have a guardian angel up there, I'm so sorry, please keep working hard. _

She could almost feel herself shudder with uncomfortable laughter at the thought. How unlucky had her day been. Her week? Maybe just officially- her life?

"I want to never deal with you again"

"Okay, I'll leave. You'll never see me again" Izzy pushed off the ground and gently got up, her hands up in the air. "Or hear from me"

"You're right…I won't" He lowered his cannon. "Ravage"

It was over. What was the point in running? It was like bringing a knife to a gun fight. No. the better analogy would be bringing a pencil to a gun fight.

As Ravage leapt forward, claws outstretched for his kill, Izzy tensed her body, preparing for hit.

He was snagged out of the air, his body grasped between two metal hands. Izzy's gaze was unwavering as she watched two more robots transform out of the darkness, slamming into Blackout.

Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. The sparks of the metal clashing with metal, the robotic figures fighting around her.

Bushes around her caught fire, the ground exploded leaving potholes, but she remained standing, wordlessly watching.

Ravage howled in pain and Izzy turned to meet his optics one last time as his spine was pulled and ripped out of his body. His metal carcass was tossed aside with much disinterest.

Blackout continued to fight off the advances made by two other smaller bots in the distance as the large red and blue bot remained standing in front of Izzy.

His shadow felt familiar, but she felt herself shiver uncomfortably at the lurking size of the thing.

"Are you alright?" His voice was low and soothing with genuine concern. Izzy looked up at the dark shape that stared back down to her.

"My friend...He-he needs help" She clenched her teeth, trying to stop her shivering but the desert wind whipped through her open jacket. "The car flipped. I can't get him out"

"Lennox is on his way"

Izzy nods and looks towards the metal pieces of Ravage in the grass.

"Is he dead?"

"Yes"

She took a step towards the remains but felt herself tremor again.

"I didn't really like him."  
"You are cold." This time it wasn't a question. It was a statement. Izzy looked down at the shorts and tank top she had originally worn "to bed"…hadn't really been planning an outing.

"Maybe a bit" She admitted, gripping her arms in the new acknowledgment. "I'll be fine. You said Lennox was coming?"

The red and blue bot sunk to the floor, shifting, transforming before Izzy's eyes until a large semi-truck was in its place. The door swung open, beckoning towards her.

The offer was very forward, and she knew what he was insinuating she should do, but her feet stayed frozen to the ground.

"Who are you?"  
"My name is Optimus Prime"

Izzy said nothing in response. Not because she was frozen in fear. She wasn't sure how she felt in that moment. Confused. Pent up.

She limped forward, now becoming more aware of the shooting pain that spiraled all over her body. Her eyes remained locked on the open semi-truck, but doubt was setting in.

Izzy peered into the front seat. Everything appeared to be as normal as a semi-truck could be, except it was an alien and that thought didn't leave her head for one second.

She shook her head and backed up away from him before half sitting/half collapsing on the ground. Optimus quickly transformed and kneeled down in front of her, while keeping a respectful distance.

"Is everything alright?"

Izzy shook her head, refusing to look up at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm…" She fake laughed to herself, burying her head in her knees. "I'm uh, claustrophobic, and then the idea that I can't leave once I get in is just…" She doesn't continue. "That's a lie. I'm just a mess. I need sleep and I'm just… God I'm so tired. My friend is hurt. I'm… I almost died. So many times. I still…I can't… process…" She tried to hold the tears in but they streamed quickly down her cheek. Optimus said nothing, watching her carefully. "I feel so… scared"

She sobbed into her knees, not even trying to be in control of her emotions.

"We have met before" Optimus said softly. Izzy wipes the tears away with her palm and nods.

"I remember you" Optimus said softly. "You saved a lot of lives that day"

Izzy peeped up at him from the safety of her knees.  
Red and blue lights were starting to reflect off his metal from an incoming ambulance in the distance. She finally could actually see him. Every long scratch on the paint, every detail of the advanced parts he was made of.

She hesitantly up off the ground, watching him. Studying him.

"We are not going to hurt you" Prime said delicately. Izzy didn't move, her eyes locked on his optics.

She took a deep breath before putting her hand out towards him. Her body was shaking as she kept it outstretched. Optimus gently brought his hand forward, stretching out a finger towards her.

A final tear fell down her face as her fingers gripped onto the cold, metal finger. She didn't let go for a long time. Not after the ambulance arrived. Not after Lennox and his team arrived. Not even after Bumblebee and Ironhide had circled back.

She held onto his finger tightly in her own, as if it was the only thing she had left in the world. And to her it was.

…

…..

Lennox surveyed the display from a distance as he over watched Markus being loaded into the ambulance.

"She hasn't moved since we got here" He said quietly to Epps. His comrade was watching the sight with just as much interest.

"What do you think she's doing?" Ironhide inquired, walking up behind them. "Why is Optimus still doing that?"

"You know him better than us, man" Epps retorted, shaking his head.

"She feels safe." Lennox spoke up. They both glimpsed at him for further explanation. "She finally feels safe and she doesn't want to let go of that security"

They all peered up at Optimus and Izzy again. Izzy had her eyes closed, taking in long and steady breaths. Optimus, remained kneeling, hand outstretched, gazing down at her.

"And Optimus knows this" Lennox felt a small ping of pride in his chest for his robotic friend. Although the circumstances were dire, it was a beautiful moment between man and machine.

"Human emotions confuse me" Ironhide shook his head and walked away, bumping into Bumblebee as he exited.

"You and me both" Epps chuckled. Bee stopped behind him, beeping a few times in curiosity.

"Looks like you guys might be having a new friend down at the base." Lennox looked up at Bumblebee just in time to see his blue eyes spark up with excitement. "She's a curious one. I'm sure you two will be thick as thieves"

Bumblebee glanced towards Izzy. He was curious about her. She was different looking than other humans. Her blonde hair was past her shoulders was in a ratty mess, and her clothing was stained red with blood. But that wasn't the part that looked different. It was the way she carried herself.

It was full of life in a way he had not seen before. Without defeat. Without regret. Her eyes had a spark to them that he couldn't place.

Izzy dropped her hand back down to her side and turned towards the group of people watching. She met each and every one of their gazes with a calm manifestation before turning back up to Optimus.

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"We can take you somewhere safe"

She nodded.

"I would like that"

The door of the ambulance shut, with Markus inside.

"Will he be there?" She asked.

"Yes"

She nodded again and turned back towards him.

"Okay"

This time when he transformed, she hesitated only for a moment before getting in. The door slammed shut and they took towards the road.

Izzy rested her head on the window, letting the small bumps of the road jostle her. She didn't have any specific thoughts in her head. In fact she felt rather numb. As if every emotion had left her body and all that remained was a carcass of what used to be.

The radio turned on softly, the music soft and calming.

"Do you like listening to music?" She stared at the dash of the truck and then back out the window, confused as to where she should look. She was inside the thing she was talking to... how did this work? Her question was answered as he simply replied back.

"No. But I've found many humans do"

"Yeah, we do" She nodded. "Do you understand what they are singing about?"

"Not all the time"

Izzy listened to the new song that started to play, closing her eyes.

"Pain." She stated. "Most music is about pain."

"Why is that?"

"Because it's the strongest feeling we can feel outside of euphoria." Izzy placed her head back on the window and a small smile escaped her lips. "The cool thing about pain though, is you grow from it, learn from it. You change from it."

And in that moment, she felt the smallest ting of hope enter her body again.


	5. Chapter 5

"What you did was stupid. It was absolutely idiotic"

"Probably"

"You could have gotten killed"

"Oh, I know."

"But yet you did it anyways"

"Yup"

Agent Frank Anderson paged though the file in front of him. It was small with nothing note worthy, at least to an outsiders eye. But his job wasn't to read the lines. It was to read in between them.

Izzy sat across from him, her hands folded calmly on the metal table top. The room was quiet and dark, with a single light hanging above them. Her arms were wrapped with various of bandages and bruises all over her body were starting to turn blue and black. She was slouched in her seat, the dark lines around her eyes growing bigger, threatening to force them shut at any moment, but she continued to fight back.

"It says here you live near Magnolia?"

"Yeah. If that apartment is still even up" She wiped her nose and glanced up at him in a questioning manner.

"It's still up" He replied simply.

"Can you send someone to feed my cat?"

Anderson paused. They both stared at each other, the silence eating the room. His fingers tapped on the table before a chuckle escaped his mouth. He shook his head, swallowing the emotion down but started coughing as he choiked on his own spit.

"What?"

Anderson shook his head, a smile still tracing his lips.

"You do realize the extent of the situation you are in, right?"

Izzy nods weakly and rubbed her head.

"You purposely involved yourself in a top secret, government involved war which-"

"-Which was too easy to get involved in. A four-year-old coulda done it" Izzy snapped irritably. Anderson raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. If it was an attempt to intimidate her, it didn't work.

Izzy imitating his gesture, moving towards him and raised her eyebrows. Anderson sighed and leaned away.

"Alright. Shall we actually begin this then?"

"Shall we" Izzy sighed.

He flipped open the file and paged through it and brought a paper forward. It was a rent and utilities bill. Izzy stared down at it, expresionless.

"I pay all my bills on time"

"True. But how do you pay them?"

"A job"

"Which job?"

Izzy shut her mouth tightly but managed to give a small shrug. Anderson had the upper hand now, and Izzy knew it.

"So I did a little digging." Anderson brought out another paper and slid it towards Izzy. It was one of the pictures of her that she had left at the so called "modeling agency".

Izzy squinting at the photograph before sliding it back towards him.

"Damn, I've gained weight"

Anderson glared at her before lifting the photograph up to her face.

"You are a wanted person. In many different locations, for stealing money."

"Oh?" Izzy leaned forward, seeming to be genuinely interested. "And who did I steal money from? It wouldn't happen to be an illegal businesses, would it? Possibly an escort business? You really gonna hammer me for that?" Her voice dripped heavily with sarcasm. Anderson knew what she was trying to do and he didn't back down.

"Two wrongs do not make a right"

"Oh please, you sound like my mother" Izzy snorted leaning back.

"What else have you done. Now's the time to open up. Be truthful" He said carefully. Izzy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Nothing. I haven't done anything. I never hurt anybody. Yes, I stole, but only when I needed to and only from bad people! I live in a shit apartment and I can barely afford ramen."

Anderson tapped his pen on the desk. The silence made Izzy squirm uncomfortably in her seat as she waited for his response.

"Look...kid."

"I'm not a kid."

Anderson, for the first time studied the woman in front him. She wasn't a kid, that was true, but she was young, in her early 20's. So much more life to go. So many more experiences to have. Many of which would never be experenced in a normal way ever again. He cringed, wondering if she would end up like Sam.

Frank had once met Sam Witwicky in passing. He had only joined N.E.S.T four years ago and hadn't been involved when Sam had been around, but he had heard the stories. That was a kid. An actual kid. Fresh out of highschool and he was dealing with Megatron himself? It was a chilling thought that he didn't dwell on much.

Sam had been around 27 when he met him. Married, two kids with a house out in the country. He had been assigned patrol for a week at the Witwicky residency before he had been promoted. It had been one of the easiest jobs that had ever been thrown at him. Or so he thought.

Sam greeted him normally, introduced his wife and kids as if life was an absolute peach for him. But things changed when the sun went down. While the wife and kids went to bed, Sam could be seen downstairs in the living room pacing back and fourth, madly muttering to himself. Sometimes he would drink, other times he would take some pills. Neither of which ever seemed to give him the peace that he needed.

One night, Frank remembered approaching him. Sam was sitting outside, a blunt in his mouth while madly trying to get the lighter to work. The wind was strong, blowing it out before he ever had a fighting chance of lighting it. He muttered curse words rapidly to himself before realizing someone was approaching.

He jumped at least three feet into the air, his eyes widening like a deer in headlights. Frank quickly put his hands up, appolgizing.

"I'm so sorry-"

"What are you doing here?!" Sam screamed. "You aren't supposed to be this close to the house!"

Frank slowly put his hand down and nodded.

"I know...It's just..that-"

"WHAT!? SPIT IT OUT!" Sam fired back angrily. Frank dropped his hands and gulped, questioning if this was really the job that would get him kicked off the force. He sighed heavily and met Sam's intense gaze before he offered a coat forward.

"Why the fuck are you not wearing a coat man. It's freezing out here."

Sam was still breathing heavily with rage, but he took a second to look down at his clothing. His plain white t-shirt and boxers were blowing in the cold breeze, his skin covered in goosebumps.

Sam's body went limp with defeat and he swallowed heavily and gave a small nod and took the offered coat.

"Thanks"

Frank gave him a small nod, watching Sam slowly put his arms through the sleeves.

"Are you okay?"

Sam didn't say anything, his eyes glazed with sadness. He kept his eyes trained on the floor.

"People just expect that I'll be okay, you know? That nothing ever happened. I have everything I could ever ask for." He shook his head before wiping his runny nose. "I love my family, I love this house...but...there are things I can't forget. He finally met Franks eyes. "I can't forget, no matter how hard I try. They were a part of my life, and now, I never see them? You know how that feels? Like it was all made up in my head...Does Bumblebee want to see me? Or are you guys just not letting him?"

Frank didn't know how to respond. His department rarely worked with the autobots so he had no way of knowing the answers to any of those questions. Sam waved off the question and let out a small shiver.

"I saved the world man." He whispered. "At one time, I saved the world." His smile was filling with tears and he shook his head, exiting into the house, leaving Anderson alone in the cold.

Frank ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair, pushing the memory from his mind before closing the manila envelope in front of him.

"Izzy, you aren't in trouble. Nothing is going to happen to you. We just need to know that you won't be a threat when you are here"

They met a mutual glance. It wasn't filled with trust but with understanding. Izzy glanced around the room.

"Do I sleep in here?"

"No, come on. We'll continue talking later. I think my boss will agree that you can be let out"

Izzy let out a tired chuckle, kicking the seat out as she got up.

"I was considered a threat?"

She limped forward and followed Frank out the door.

...

...

Izzy recognized the hallways. They were the same ones she had been once brought down before by Lennox. It was different now though. People scurried around, importance in their stride. Small whispers became louder as awkward glances were exchanged.

"I'm assuming everyone knows who I am?"

"Why, does that give you pride?" Anderson smirked, looking down at her. She shrugged but lifted her shoulders up. "What, you feel like a celebrity now?"

"I feel important" She didn't get to say anything more as she tripped on her shoelaces. This got another smile out of Anderson, which Izzy did take a lot of pride in. She glanced up at him as they continued to stride down the hallway.

The worry lines around his forehead and eyes were thick and well used, where else the lines around his mouth were small and almost nonexistent. It was small things like this that Izzy picked up about people. It is what made her good at reading people, which had previously made her "job" easier.

"So...when did you start doing this?" She asked. Anderson stiffened, his jaw tightening, but only for a few paces before his body relaxed with a deep exhale.

"About four years ago"

She knew better than to push the conversation, so she went back to people watching.

They eventually ended up at the end of the hallway before taking a sharp turn to a large, pad locked door. Izzy hesitated behind Anderson as he entered in a long code on the keypad. The bolts unlocked from the other side and started to slide open an inch per second.

Anderson waited patiently until the door was completely open. He took a step forward and stopped, realizing his walking partner wasn't at his side. He turned towards her.

She took a small step forward, her eyes darting up as she stepped into the large room.

Thousands of small lights, shimmered with a blue hue from the 40-foot-tall ceiling. The space was wide and long, with a few exiting hallways. On one side of the room was a computer, the screen as large as a movie screen projector, while the other side remained bare.

Izzy stepped into the room, her eyes trained on the ceiling. She started spinning in a dazed circle as she stared at the sparkle above her.

"What are you doing?"

Izzy had the smallest of smiles to her face as she turned to Anderson.

"It reminds me of stars." She smiled. "Not like we see many of those in Los Angeles"

Frank lifted his head, scrutinizing the scene above him. He had never thought of it that way. He knew what the lights were caused from. Energon. The Autobots needed it to survive. Kind of like blood in a way. His thinking was facts and logic. It was the way he felt he had to have trained his brain, in order to survive the constant stress he was put under. But now as he watched Izzy circle around like a happy school girl, he felt a pang of envy.

He looked up at the ceiling again, trying to find some kind of feeling. Maybe an appreciation of some sort? Nothing.

Izzy could feel the footsteps before hearing them. Instinctively, she froze, her eyes widening as a bot she had never seen before, rounded a corner. His mostly white, clean exterior was the first thing that caught her attention. He probably wasn't a bot that left this base much.

He stopped, his eyes darting down to the two humans below him.

"Ratchet, pleasure seeing you" Frank started walking towards him. Ratchet's shoulders slumped irritably, and he walked towards the computer.

"Anderson. What can I do for you?"

His tone sounded like he would rather shoot himself than do anything but help in that moment, but Anderson ignored it, pressing forward.

"I've brought you a visitor"

"Nice to meet you" He gave a general nod in Izzy's direction. She clasped her hands, uncomfortably.

"I'm Izzy. Izzy Beckett"

Ratchet paused, before his head turned around with curiosity. He walked a few steps forward and leaned down, resting his hands on his knees. Izzy felt herself starting to stand on her tip toes in a vein attempt to feel bigger.

"She's going to be staying with you all until we can get her comfortably and safely relocated."

"Yeah. I heard"

Izzy brushed off his disinterest and started jogging towards one of the hallway. Anderson watched her leave in silence. Ratchet turned towards him, angrily.

"I am not babysitting. Tell her to go sit over there" Ratchet barked. Anderson didn't respond as he made his way back towards the door. Ratchet anxiously looked over to Izzy who had made her way into the first hallway. "She's going to start messing with things she shouldn't be!"

Anderson shrugged but gave a small smile as the door closed in front of him with a loud lock, leaving Ratchet to fend for himself.

...

...

Izzy continued her jog through the hallway, half skipping with childish glee as the continuously growling blue lights, grew around her. All the spinning started to make her head whirl and she laid down on the floor, her arms and legs outstretched as far as they could go.

Her fingers clenched and unclenched as she laid on the floor, watching the small lights flicker around her.

Stomp. Stomp.

Izzy sat up in time to see the familiar yellow and black bot walking towards her. She stood up quickly, moving to the wall, keeping her eyes trained on the ground. Bumblebee beeped a few times, shaking his head and pointed down at the ground.

Izzy looked up at him with confusion. "What?"

He pointed at the ground again humming before the radio transmission started.

"What were you...doing?" The segments clicked together ungracefully. Izzy nodded in understanding and pointed up at the ceiling.

"I think the lights are beautiful."

Bumblebee stared up at the ceiling, curiously. It was a sight that he had grown accustomed to. The energon set up flowed through every part of the base, powering their various computers and medical equipment. It was the easiest way to have it accessible everywhere instead of in cubes.

He reached his finger up and the energon rippled in a large wave in recognition of a Cybertronian nearby. Izzy gawked in amazement. Bee beeped a few times, nodding happily before he reached up touching a few of the lights again. The waves were all in different patterns and length, the whole hallway becoming a beautiful flickering light of pattern.

Izzy beamed, her hands instinctively going up towards the ceiling in delight as Bee continued to dash around the room with enthusiasm, touching different areas, trying to create different patterns for Izzy to see.

Izzy jumped around and Bumblebee followed her awkward dancing footsteps as he skipped from one foot to the other. He cautiously started to play music at a low tone and was overjoyed to watch Izzy readjust herself to the beat as she continued to pranced around happily. The volume grew louder, the song becoming recognizable- God's Whisper by Raury.

She clapped her hands along with the singing, now dancing under Bee. They carefully moved around each other in a circle, mimicking each others movements.

The song came to a slow end and Bee brought his hands back down to his side. The blue energon stopped its shudders and went back to their gentle flickering. Izzy met Bumblebee's stare, her lips curving into a grin.


	6. Chapter 6

Izzy gazed at the large mirror in front of her. She had just showered and she felt like she looked like a drowned rat. Her fingers nervously twitched at her side.

She had been at the base for over a week now. The first day had been the most exciting and rewarding day of her life. She had met so many of the autobots, explored the base and introduced herself to everyone and anyone she could. There had been a part of her that had perfectly accepted this to be her new home. There was a sense of importance at the base she had never felt before.

But by the next day everything had changed. She was back in the room she had been in before, with the multiple beds, the hospital looking sheets and a small bathroom. Although she was allowed to freely roam around during daylight hours, she was locked up in the room night. Barely any people or bots were at the base during the day, and the only autobot that stayed in the base for the day was Ratchet, and he tended to shut himself in a room before Izzy could manage to get there.

Agent Anderson had told Izzy this was temporary home until they could find her a home that had supervision as it was "required for all humans that become involved", but she found she really didn't want to leave. Being dropped off at some protected house in the middle of nowhere sounded like shit in her opinion.

Izzy wondered how many other people had accidently stumbled into this mess. She figured it wouldn't be too many. Normal people tended to avoid conflict, while Izzy found herself fascinated.

"Ms. Beckett?"

"Yeah?" Izzy called as she walked out of the bathroom, running her fingers through her wet, tangled hair.

Lennox peaked through before allowing himself into the room. Izzy gave a polite nod to him.

"What's up?"

He gave a small smile and rested his hands in his vest.

"Todays the day!" Izzy stared at him, blankly. Lennox stared back, awaiting some kind of response, but none came. "We found a nice place outside city lines, nice little cottage with a lot of land."

Izzy turned away and started making her bed.

"Did you find Igby a home?"

"Yes, she's with a lovely family in Pasadena."

"Thanks" Izzy finished making the bed and clasped her hands down at her side. "I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed gather up my things"

"Yes…wait, you have…belongings?"

"No, that was supposed to be a subtitle sarcastic joke, but you ruined it " She pursed her lips before turning around to look at the room again. It was just as bare and empty as it had been before she had arrived. She turned back towards him and followed him out the door.

As they walked down the hallway, Izzy scoffed her feet on the flooring.

"You alright?"

She nodded before shrugging.

"You do this for a lot of people?"

"Do what?" Lennox asked.

"This" Izzy gestured. "Processing people and moving them when they know the governments little secret"

"Not too many. Deceptioncons rarely go out of their way to target a human, but you really crammed your way into a situation so they musta figured…-"

"-That I was an ally of some sort" Izzy finished. Lennox gave a curt nod in agreement. "How many people would you say a year? You get in here?"

"Why is that of so much interest to you?" Lennox eyebrows rose. Izzy shrugged again, squinting her eyes uncomfortably.

"I don't know. Made me feel special or something"

Lennox slowed his walking.

"Well. Special isn't the word"

"What's the word?" Izzy asked quizzically. A grin rose to Lennox face.

"…Uncommon?.…maybe unusual. Your choices anyways."

Izzy rolled her eyes and continued forward at a faster pace.

"Thanks"

Bumblebee watched Izzy load into the front seat of the van before the door shut and just like that she was gone. It was something he was used to. It had been about 6 humans this year that had filtered through the system. About 8 last year. He had met each and every one of them, but none of them usually wanted anything to do with him.

As he trudged away, he found himself thinking about Sam. Bee very greatly wanted to see how he had been. It had been 10 years. 10 years since he had last seen his best friend.

Bee had seen the messages, although the U.S government did their best to hide Sam away from the autobots, he still knew Sam had tried to reach out. But he had no way of finding Sam. His location had been kept a secret, since it would be "safer" that way. Bee didn't blame the humans for thinking this way. It wasn't as if their arrival to earth had really been a welcoming experience.

The messages had stopped three years ago. Bee hoped it was because Sam was happy, moved on with his life and lived what he should have been living all this time. But yet, he still found himself wondering what it would be like if they had remained in contact.

"Strike!"

A large hammer came swinging around the corner, catching Bee off guard. It slammed into his chest and he fell back onto the floor. The crash echoed loudly through the hallway as Crosshairs walked out, disappointed.

"That was….too easy"

"I wasn't really…expecting… to be attacked…in my own god damn home!" Bumblebee spurted out in small radio segments. He got up, his cannons glowing as he narrowed his optics.

"Deep breaths Bee, defeat needs to be accepted by all forms of life, even the weakest of those forms"

Bee beeped angrily and lunged, his arms forward. Crosshairs tried to grab his sword but it was too late as he found himself in a hand in hand pushing battle with the smaller, yellow bot.

"You are being a fool!" Crosshairs grunted angrily as Bee pushed back at him.

"Quit it you two!"

Ratchets voice boomed down the hallway, startling them both back away from each other.

"Why don't you go do something useful for a change?" Crosshairs inspected a scratch in his paintjob and shook his head with irritation. Bee watched him saunter away before sighing and continuing down the hallway.

"Autobots, energon signal has been spotted 20 miles outside of city. It's probably nothing, but one of you go check it out" Ratchets voice came through the intercom loud and clear.

Bee froze in his steps, staring down. But not because of Ratchets announcements. In fact, he had been planning on ignoring it. No, there was a human down below him.

Markus stood in the middle of the hallway, two crutches under both arms with a large cast around his leg. His expression was pained and uncomfortably as he stared up at the yellow and black bot before him.

Bee relaxed his position, his eyes sparking with curiosity. He gave a small wave to the human below.

Markus didn't move, his fingers gripping the crutches so hard his knuckles were turning white. Bee backed up, beeping a few times in apology. This human clearly wasn't comfortable around bots yet.

They both stared at each other, not moving, the awkwardness building as Bee contemplated what he should do.

The idea hit him like wrecking ball. He quickly reached his finger up to the ceiling and moved it around. The energon started to spark out different patterns around the room. Markus watched, his expression, mildly curious, but Bee wasn't ready to give up.

He started to play music and moving around in the dance like pattern that Izzy had, trying to copy the movements he had seen her do to the best of his ability. It felt rather silly to not dance with someone, but he kept going.

After the song ended, Bee did a quick 360 jump, the landing-shaking the floor so much Markus almost fell over. They met gazes again, as Bee waited for some kind of optimistic response. Markus gave a forced smile, sweat forming on his brow.

"Is that…Is that how you guys say hi?" Markus backed up a few steps uncomfortably. "Hello.. Helloooo?" Markus said slowly, annunciating it as though he was talking to a four-year-old. "Please, don't, step, on, me" His words were even slower this time as he mimed different gestures of someone being stepped on.

Bee's shoulders slumped, and he stared at Markus, grouchily.

"HEY! I NEED SOMEONE TO GO CHECK OUT THE SIGNAL!" Ratchets voice echoed down the hallway. Bee beeped back angrily, walking past a confused Markus.

"I'll….go. Chill out" His radio broadcasted. He transformed and made his way to the exit, leaving Markus confused and frightened in the middle of the hallway.


	7. Chapter 7

Izzy gripped a small Walmart bag in her hands, staring forward at the house in front of her. It was quaint, and looked to be more like a storage shed than a house, but she didn't say anything to Lennox, who appeared to be very pleased with himself.

She entered the building carefully. A small twin bed was pressed up next to the wall with an old fashion air condition unit above it. A small sink was on the other side of the room next to a portable fridge next to a door that led to the bathroom. A small picture of a kitten was nailed to the wall at an attempt to add color or "art" to the space.

Lennox was madly staring down at his phone as she dropped her bag on the bed. She awkwardly shuffled past him to check out the bathroom, the idea of a warm bath on her mind. She was disappointed to find a standing shower, that appeared to still have the remains of someone's hair in it. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she peered around.

"Hey, I gotta go" Lennox called to her.

"So soon?" She inquired, walking out of the bathroom. Lennox flipped his phone shut, a grim expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Some shit is happening in the city." He adjusted his vest and moved towards the door. Izzy said nothing, her thoughts far away from the conversation. Lennox opened the door to outside and pointed.

"There's a bike resting up against the house over there. You can use that to get to the nearest walmart if you need anything- just be sure to let the security know where you are going." He paused and checked his phone again. "Security will probably be here within the next hour- so just stay put till then"

Lennox scurried through the door, leaving Izzy alone. She waited for the sound of the car to fade away before she groaned and stared around the crowded space.

It didn't feel like home. It felt like a prison. The last thing she wanted to do was be stuck in a house for the rest of her life with guards watching her every move.

"Stay put" She shook her head "What am I, a fucking dog?"

Izzy pushed the door open and stormed outside. What do you know, a bike was rested up against the side of the house. The pedals were rusted, and the chain looked about ready to fall off, but it looked...useable.

Izzy grabbed it, pulling it out of the overgrown weeds, and started walking down the driveway. She didn't really have a destination in mind, but wherever it was, it wasn't here.

...

...

"Bee, where are you?" Optimus voice boomed through the intercom. "Decepticon activity in the city"

Bee shared his current location, before pulling over and waiting for a response. It would take him at least 2 hours to get back to the city and by then they might have the situation under control. He hoped Optimus would let him just continue on to check whatever this energy reading was. It was the first time he had done a scout alone in a long time, and he enjoyed the freedom to go at his own pace. He also enjoyed the freedom of being away from Crosshairs, which he swore, if that stupid bot did one more thing he was ready to fry his circuits.

"He's not far away from that recent energy reading Optimus, might be best to have him finish that up" Ratchet interjected into the conversation. There was a silence that followed as Optimus weighed the options.

Bumblebee hummed to himself, watching the occasional bird fly by. It wasn't until he really started looking around his surroundings that he noticed something out of wack.

A woman, struggling with a bike and a Walmart bag was making her way up the road. Profanity was pouring from her lips as she slammed the bike down in front of her, one step after another. The bike chain was wrapped tightly around the gears in a destructive pattern with no chance of return.

Bee found himself amused as he watched her struggle. The woman finally angrily picked up the bike and threw it into the ditch on the side of the road with surprising strength.

"Shit! You're shit!"

Bumblebee froze as he recognized the voice and he quickly focused his vision on her. It was clear as day, no denying that it was Izzy. She was no longer in her base clothing, instead, she was sporting a baggy t-shirt, and ripped jeans.

Izzy took a deep breath and adjusted herself before turning around to look down the long road.

Bee wondered where she was trying to go, surely, she had to know going back to the city was dangerous, and especially stupid if she was trying to run away from N.E.S.T. He watched her stick out her thumb as she walked. He wondered if she was stretching her arm? Did her thumb hurt?

"Bee, finish searching that signal before joining us" Optimus came through, startling Bee from his deep focus. He beeped back in understanding before once again turning his attention to Izzy.

He knew what he "should" do. Contact Anderson or Lennox and let them know he had found Izzy walking around in the middle of a street. But doing that, guaranteed he would never see her again and he saw opportunity in this moment.

...

...

Izzy was angrily muttering to herself when she heard the tire wheels squeal behind her.

"Thank god"

She lifted her thumb up higher, planted a fake smile to her face and turned to face the vehicle approaching. She wondered who it would be. A traveling family? Some lonely divorced dad looking for attention? A tourist?

A yellow car pulled up alongside her and she gave an friendly wave, but only for a second as her eyes were drawn to the racing stripes. Her shoulders slumped and her gaze narrowed.

It was an awkward stand off as neither of them said anything to each other. A few cars passed but there they remained, standing next to each other.

Izzy scoffed and continued walking, her thumb up to the sky. Bee honked before catching up to drive alongside her.

"I'm not gonna be the governments little property to move around" She growled. Bee kept pace with her, driving at a slow pace.

"I'm not here to take you in" The radio spurted. Izzy slowed her steps, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Then where would you take me?"

"I'm...not sure... But not where you were before"

Izzy's finally stopped before turning towards him. The heat was blistering hot, and her legs hurt from the whole time she had attempted to peddle that bike. She bit her lip before sighing.

"You could get in a lot of trouble, couldn't you?"

The various of low pitch beeps, didn't need a translation. He was just as frustrated with the rules as she was.

Izzy looked down the road. It went on for miles and the heat was blistering. The front door of the car opened, an inviting look to it. Izzy sighed, wiping her forehead free of sweat.

"Whatever, fuck it"

She threw the Walmart bag into the back and stepped into the car. The door shut, and the wheels screeched as they took off.

Izzy held onto the seat, uncomfortably as they surpassed the speed limit by at least 40 miles an hour. Bumblebee didn't seem to notice her grip as he happily played music and sped forward. Sam used to always like going fast, so she must as well.

"How long until we are there?...Wait where are we going?"

Bumblebee replayed Ratchet's intercom about checking out an energy source and Izzy nodded slowly.

"So like, energon? Is that how you say it? Is that what you guys are looking for?"

"Sometimes...We are looking for...something much more important now"

Izzy paused, thinking back to her previous encounters with the decepticons.

"The Cyrote? What was that? I remember it being talked about"

This time, Bee didn't respond. The music shut off and all was silent in the vehicle. Izzy frowned, trying to think of what to say.

"It's not good news"

Izzy gave a small nod but felt chills go up her spine. She had so many questions, none of which had been answered the few times she had seen Ratchet at the base. Her curiosity had been pushed down, but never forgotten.

The tires screeched and Bee flew off the road, landing roughly. Sand flew into the air like a dust storm, before he took off through it, skidding roughly side to side a few times.

They traveled forward for a few miles in this manner before he finally stopped, coming to a 360 halt.

Izzy was gripping the steering wheel, taking heavy breaths as she tried to calm her heart down.

The door opened and she forced herself out, landing roughly on the sand. She took many slobbering, gaspy breaths.

"I might puke" She dry heaved before landing on her back. "Dude, you can't drive like that" Bumblebee transformed, the Walmart bag she had in the back seat, spilling its contents all over his shoulders.

Bee's eyes widened as he beeped in apology. Quickly he leaned down, starting to push the items together into a sandy pile, trying to gather everything. Izzy watched the sad attempt as oranges, apples, canned foods, pencils and various of other belongings were half buried under the sand. Bee panicked and stopped, backing away from the sand castle. His optics nervously darted towards her before he leaned down and grabbed a small pink box out of the sand.

He brought it up to offer to her with embarrassment.

Izzy grimaces as she reached out to take the small box and stared down at it.

"Thanks, I uh...really needed tampons right now" She looked over to the large sandy pile where her belongings were buried and gave a sore nod. "Okay, where to now?"

Bee started scanning the area as Izzy brushed the sand off her sweatshirt. He beeped a few times and walked forward. Izzy trudged after him, trying to jump into his footsteps.

Bee kept scanning, trying to locate where exactly the signal was coming from. The idea of digging didn't really appeal to him since he could already feel the sand grinding around in between his gears. His scanner beeped a few times and he stopped, looking down at his feet. Nothing was there.

"Bee?"

Izzy's voice came out softly, almost a whisper. Bee beeped back in response as he got down on his knee's, starting to search through the sand. The sooner he could find this thing, the sooner he could get back to the base. He wondered if he could turn the small back room at the base into a bedroom of some sort for Izzy. She would need things. A lot of humans needed things he had learned. Like beds, blankets, and food. Lots of food.

"Bee..."

Bee froze, his energon going cold at the tone of Izzy's voice. He turned towards her. She remained facing away from him, staring out towards what seemed to be infinite sand. Except it wasn't just sand anymore.

The sand exploded as rotating blades spun out, followed by a robotic body and a long, sharp tail. Izzy watched as the scorpion like machine hissed, it's small guns clicking in place along it's sharp spikes.

Izzy choked on her breath as her body was quickly lifted up. Bee protectively held her to his chest, his protective mask sliding into place. Scorponok hissed before diving into the dirt, within seconds he was gone. Bee felt the rumbling below his feet and he beeped in alarm before taking off running.

He desperately sent out a distress signal before jumping forward. The metal started flipping and twisting around Izzy and she screamed holding onto his fingers as hard as she could.

The car form folded around her and she felt herself surge forward. She put her hands forward to catch herself before she would hit the dash, but suddenly the dash was gone. The metal unfolded around her. Heat from an explosion behind her, jerked her higher into the air.

Bee slammed into the sand, smoke and sparks rising from his back. Izzy reached her fingers towards him before her body slammed into the sand, rolling a few feet before stopping.

She groaned, pushing on her stomach, trying to get air back into her lungs. Finally gasping for air, she forced herself up, dizzily.

Metal on metal clashed and she looked up just in time to see Bumblebee slam into Scorponok.

"I thought you was dead!" Bumblebee's radio yelled. Scorponok hissed, slamming his sharp tail forward.

Izzy quickly got up and started to run. Her every step, sunk into the sand, slowing her down.

Bee narrowly dodged the sharp tail that stabbed towards him again. He rolled away, his cannons firing up, but not soon enough as Scorponok dove into the sand, his little legs scurrying fast. Bee fired his cannons into the sand, but none of the blasts hit a target.

"Emergency. I have a-" He wasn't able to finish his radio transmission as the ground blew up under him.

Izzy quickly dove to the side as Bee narrowly missed landing on top of her. She closed her eyes as the sand and various of small rocks cascaded back down to earth, pelting them both.

THUD.

Bee and Izzy both turn towards each other at the sound. A circular, metal object the size of Izzy's fist, sat between then, lightly covered in sand. It stuck out in the tan surroundings as it glowed a royal blue and white.

Bee's sensors started beeping madly and his eyes widened. He reaches forward to grab it but is suddenly snatched back into the air. Izzy screams, covering her head as both bots go tumbling past her. Bee is doing everything he can to avoid each and every strike but he is getting more tired and weak by the second. Each and every spin, kick, twist and blow he makes is thrown right back at him with more speed and strength.

Izzy looks back towards where the glowing orb had been, but it is no longer there. She digs her fingers furiously into the sand, tossing it aside.

"Shit, shit" She mutters before desperately beginning to dig everywhere around her.

Bumblebee punched Scorponok in the face and quickly turned to Izzy, his expression filled with worry. He beeped madly, shaking his head at her desperately, but he wasn't able to get in another word as Scorponok tail came up and with perfect execution, slice though Bee's stomach.

"BUMBLEBEE!" Izzy shrieked, tripping forward. Bee didn't move, his eyes wide with pain.

Scorponok twisted his tail in a rough jerking motion forcing the hole in Bumblebee's stomach to widen. Energon spilled onto the sand and Bee went limp.

Scorponok hissed, pulling his tail back behind him in triumph.

Sparks crackled from Bee's wound and his hands instinctively went to his stomach before his knee's buckled to the ground.

"Bee, get up!" Izzy screamed hysterically. "You have to get up!" Her voice whimpered as she took a weak step towards him. Her entire body felt clammy and her vision started to spin as she started to scream. "No, no, Get up! Get up, Bee!"

His beeps were soft as gravity overtook him and he toppled completely to the ground.

Scorponok his gaze narrowing down to her feet. She looked down, and there glowing was the same metal object as before.

Izzy clenched her jaw and grabbed the item tightly in her fingers. It was hot to the touch, but she ignored it as she held it down by her side. Whatever it was, Bee thought it was important. And if he did, the decepticons did as well.

She gripped the smooth metal in her hand and took a deep breath as Scorponok started to skitter towards her quickly.

Izzy didn't have a plan, nor did she really expect to make it out of that situation alive. She could feel her heart, beating out of her chest as she kept every muscle clenched in her body.

Five feet away now, and preparing to strike, Scorponok let out a long hiss. Izzy closed her eyes and quickly raised her fist with the alien rock before swinging it forward in a quick punching motion.

Her fist met its target, hitting Scorponoks head with a loud bang. Her eyes remained tightly shut as she waited for him to strike back, but he didn't. Nothing came. The wind howled and the sand hit her face.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes before stumbling back in alarm.

Scorponok was right in front of her, energon dripping from his eyes, an exceptionally deep dent in his head, the exact same size as Izzy's fist. His body slumped before falling into the sand in a lifeless pile of metal.

Izzy was frozen in place, trying to contemplate what had happened.

An immense pain started shooting up her arm, forcing her to raise her hand up. The glowing metal she had been holding before was melting, sinking into her sink.

She desperately panicked, trying to push it off her, but it was as though it was part of her now. Melding to her. It forced itself further under her sink, adjusting itself.

Izzy madly punched at her hand, trying to stop it, but it continued to worm around in her skin until all that was left was a black ring, tightly around her wrist. She grabbed onto the right with her other hand, pulling at it as hard as she could, but it wouldn't budge. Izzy kept pulling, until her hand began to drip blood as her skin ripped. It was worthless, it was not going to move.

Izzy forced her focus away, gulping down the sob in her throat. Wiping the blood on her pants she trudged to Bumblebee.

"Bee" Her voiced cracked as she arrived. He didn't respond. She placed her hand on his shoulder, ignoring the fresh blood that continued to dribble down her wrist.

Her adrenaline was coming to a low and she slid down into the sand, resting her back up against Bee.

"We really fucked up, Bee" She whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

The desert stretched on for miles upon miles in both directions, with not even a cactus in sight. The heat was beginning to be unbearable.

A soft low beep sounded, and Izzy quickly turned to Bee. The lights in his eyes were flickering, but he was alive, turning his face towards her. She quickly crawled over to his head, placing her hand on his face.

"Tell me what to do, what can I do to help?" Izzy looked over to the leaking energon that stained the sand below him. He shook his head weakly before a transmission started to play.

"We are on our way Bumblebee" Optimus voice fizzled in the playback. "Reserve your energy, go into stasis lock"

Izzy nodded along with the transmission and turned to him.

"Do what Optimus said" Bee beeped a few times in frustration as he locked optics with her. "I'll be okay, I promise"

She knew she was convincing herself more than anything with that last comment, but it worked enough for Bee. He gave a final nod before his eyes flickered and his body went into low power mode before entering stasis lock.

Izzy placed both hands on his shoulder before burying her head in them, sobbing. She knew he wasn't gone. In fact, she had a good feeling that he would be alright as soon as Ratchet got a hold of him.

But what was she supposed to do now? She couldn't stay here. She had not only left the place she was forbidden to go from, but additionally had some alien type shit trapped into her arm.

Her breath calmed as she stared out into the vast desert. Everything was calm and quiet.

Izzy forced herself up with a slight wobble and took a step forward. Then another. Each one more painful than the last, but she kept going.

...

...

Lennox and Epps both stared down at Scorpnoks body, their expressions strained.

"I thought we killed this dude" Epps adjusted his hat before he leaned forward, inspecting the large head wound.

"Apparently no, but ..safe to say he's dead now" Lennox replied leaning back. He had an unsettling feeling in his stomach and he wasn't sure why. Something was not right. Optimus walked up behind them, a frown to his face.

"Bee gonna be okay?" Lennox asked. Optimus gave a small nod.

"Ratchet is the best at what he does"

They both stared down at the dead decepticon in front of them.

"How did Bee do that?" Lennox shook his head, confused. "I've never seen such brutal impact before"

"I don't think this is Bumblebee's doing" Primes voice was grave, giving Lennox chills.

"Who then?"

"Optimus!" Ratchet yelled. Everyone turned towards him. He had Bee's head cradled in his hands. The bloody handprint on the side of his face was now visible. Bee's eyes flickered weakly "Izzy was here"

Silence over took everyone as the exchanged uneven glances.

"I told her to stay put" Lennox grit his teeth angrily and turned towards Epps. "Get a search team out now"

Everyone started dispersing, but Optimus didn't move as he stared down at the fallen decepticon soldier. There was only one reason that a decepticon would be this far out here. Whatever energy source they had been tracking, was something of importance and whatever it was, it was no longer here, which meant someone had it.

Prime looked back down at the dented head in front of him, the pieces of the puzzle starting to fill in his head. He looked over the sandy dunes, scanning for any energy signals. He got one almost immediately, but he kept it to himself. If his theory was correct, it would be better if he went alone.


	8. Chapter 8

The definition of home is- The place where one lives permanently, especially a member of a family or household.

This is the basic definition that has been going around for years. But that isn't what we think of when we say "home".

We think about the warm blankets that are waiting to greet us at night. We think about the pets we may have, that are excited for our arrival back. We think about all the blessed memories we have had, the people that we wish were still with us or the people that we miss.

Home is where one feels loved. Nothing else about a home matters. There is warm feeling you get in your heart when you think of home. Where you can arrive, you strip yourself of all anxiety and stop faking the smiles you have to do outside those doors. You can just be you.

That is what a real home is. A couple walls and windows can never replace a feeling.

As Izzy sat in the hot sand, she let the small grains fall in between her finger tips from one hand to the other. She thought back to her apartment. It had been "home". Or at least in some sort of sense it had been. It was a comfortable place to rest her head at night, but it was never what she had pictured for her life. Far from it.

A couple quick gusts of wind reminded her that soon the sun would no longer be in the sky. She wasn't new to the desert. It got unbelievably cold at night, but it wasn't as if she had a place she knew she could go to.

The route she had picked ensured she wouldn't see any of Autobots or N.E.S.T team on the way to the main road.

From there, she had every possible speech prepared. What story she would say to someone if she was hitchhiking. "My car broke down and I need a ride to the city" What she would tell a cop if they found her. "I let my dog out of the car to pee and he ran off, I'm just looking for him" and if a N.E.S.T agent happened to get her, then- "I want a lawyer"

Although she was pretty sure normal government rules didn't really apply for the situation she was in, she had hopes that it would make her appear calmer and collected. Maybe they would take her more seriously in her demands if she made it seem like she knew her rights.

When she heard a vehicle approaching on the sand, she didn't bother getting up to run. There wasn't a single person driving in the middle of the desert except for the people she was avoiding and it wasn't like she really had anywhere to run and hide.

Izzy cursed silently to herself and dug her fingers deeper into the sand. She wondered if she still had time to bury herself enough to be hidden but it was too late.

The sound of metal scratching metal caught her by surprise and she turned around quickly. Sand spewed out in various directions as Optimus finished transforming before he looked down to Izzy, his expression unreadable.

She stared back, trying to think of what to say. Out of all things she expected to find her, the autobot leader was not one of them.

Izzy had only encountered him in life changing interactions and each memory had been pushed so far back in her mind, it was nothing but blurred.

But now, up close and personal, with nothing nearby that wanted to kill her, Izzy was able to take the moment to really analyze the alien in front of her.

He was a lot bigger than the other bots, his towering body easily blocking the sun. His bright red and blue colors were so bright it almost blinded her eyes to stare.

Izzy took a deep breath, running through her speeches before deciding on the one that she deemed most correct.

"I want a lawyer"

Optimus shifted his weight in thought.

"I don't believe that is something I am able to get for you"

"Okay" She nodded. Their silence continued as she bit her lip anxiously. "Are you going to yell at me or? How does this work? You just gonna take me back to my little prison house? You know I really didn't like it there and-"

"-Izzy. What happened." Optimus interrupted her blabbering. It wasn't a question. It was a demand. She shrugged her shoulders, tucking her hands behind her back. She pulled at the metal wring around her wrist, nervously.

"Bee saw me outside because I left the house. He offered me a ride… and then we were attacked. It's not his fault. It's mine" She shrugged, as though it was the most basic thing to happen in one's morning.

Optimus crossed his arms and Izzy could have sworn she saw a hint of…sass? It was either that or it was a move of intimidation but she choose to think it was sass so she could keep her sanity together in front of a 40 ton talking robot.

"What else do you want to know?"

Optimus narrowed his eyes.

"Where is it?"

"…What?" Izzy said slowly.

"The Cyrote"

Izzy sheepishly looked up at him, wrinkling her nose uncomfortably. She could feel sweat trickle down her back, an itchy and cooling sensation that she hyper focused onto take away from the red alarms screaming in her mind.

A shower. A cold shower. Her thoughts were instantly clouded with day dreams of running water thought a beautiful shower head. Something to cleanse all this sand and filth off her. To feel clean and fresh to start the new day. Maybe a nap after. All of these things sounded like absolute luxuries and the thought of not having the ability to obtain them caused Izzy to panic.

"I want a shower"

Optimus blinked. If he was surprised by the outburst, he didn't show it. "And I want a nap"

Prime gave a slow nod to express understanding.

"There are things back at the base for that"

Izzy nodded back and let her hands rest at her side. The metal band was still gripping her wrist tightly, a blue hue color, glowing, making it almost impossible not to notice. She tucked her hair behind her ears, as if brushing off that anything was wrong.

"It's like…stuck on me. But that's, fine right? You guys know how to get it off right?"

Optimus stared down at her wrist, scanning, diagnostic, and processing. Izzy uncomfortably twitched before she finally hid her wrist behind her back.

"We need to get you back to the base to be looked at"

"No. I don't wanna be studied like some lab rat-"

Optimus shakes his head kneeling down on the sand beside her.

"We will not hurt you"

"I wasn't talking about you"

Optimus's eyes clouded. The memory of all his fallen comrades over the years to the humans, had only gotten worse.

With Autobots still fleeing to Earth and with no way to contact them, their arrival sometimes was turned into an execution. Alien parts on the "Black Market" were rising with interest. The smaller bots that landed near a city, never stood a chance.

With dollar signs on their minds and access to military grade firearms, these humans has become a large threat to constantly be meddled with.

Humans were a species he was yet to understand, but from his experience they were much like Cybertronians, but emotionally complex in different ways.

Some are hungry for acknowledgment in the world while other are simple hungry and they don't know what for. They seek answers in violent ways, power and constant validation. And they were the people Optimus found he didn't get along with.

Izzy's glowing wrist sparked his attention momentarily and he thought about what type of questions these same people who were hungry for answers, would ask. If word got out about Izzy and the Cybertech that had melded to her, they would have more problems then just keeping the Decepticons off their backs.

Optimus placed his hand on the ground quickly in front of Izzy.

"…What?"

"We need to get you somewhere safe." Izzy squinted up at him with confusion. "They can't see you like this"

"Like what?! I look fine?" She looked down and found herself doing a quick double take. The veins on her wrist, pulsed a bright blue, traveling up to her forearm. Every little vein and blood vessel glowed in their ray of patterns to every heartbeat.

She stumbled back in shock and Optimus quickly caught her, swooping her up onto his shoulder. Izzy felt wind gust through her sweatshirt, pushing her backwards. At the last possible moment, she managed to reach out and grab his shoulder armor to keep upright.

"Hide" Optimus growled before turning towards one of the desert hills.

Izzy held onto the metal plating as hard as she could, the wind threatening to push her over with every move she made.

"Hide? Where?...How? What do-"

She choked as a military vehicle rounded over the top of a sandy hill. Then a second. A third. Izzy sunk down, her hands hitting the metal. She desperately looked around before starting to crawl behind his neck.

"What ever you do, do not put her head back"

"Noted"

Optimus ever so slightly turned his head to look down at the people getting out of their vehicles. Izzy squeaked as the plating around his head moved near her.

"Optimus, any sign of her?" Lennox jumped out of the car and jogged towards him.

"Nothing yet"

"Alright, well the big guys back home want answers, so keep me updated"

Optimus stared at Lennox, his expression hardening as if to say "That's exactly what I don't want"

Lennox had seen this silent expression before, and he didn't need to question the gut feeling that followed it. Optimus knew where the girl was without a doubt in his mind.

And if he wasn't telling them, then there must be a reason. Something had happened.

Eye to optic, Lennox gave a curt nod. Whatever was happening, the conversation would be held somewhere private. As of now, he had to return to his team.

….

….

Izzy had her head rested on the window of the large semi-truck as it drove along the smooth road. The radio was playing in the background, some obnoxious host talking about the latest gossip in town.

She clasped her hands in her lap, her eyes falling on the metal band on her arm. It had stopped glowing. It was now reduced to a simple black band, that looked like it was dollar store jewelry, but she found when she reached to pull it, it was still very much attached to her in some way.

"Don't touch it"

Izzy jumped three feet in her seat as Prime's voice boomed through the speakers.

"Fuck" She readjusted herself before turning towards the steering wheel. "Why can't I touch it?

"It is dangerous" He replied simply.

"What is it?" Izzy turned towards the speaker on the left, confusion filling her expression as she nervously looked around the interior of the truck.

"It is called the Cyrote"

"Yes I know that" Izzy corrected irritably. "Also…I still don't know where I'm supposed to look and-"

"-It has the ability to recreate life in a Cybertronian way"

Izzy narrowed her eyes on the radio in front of her, deciding this was the new spot she would look to.

"Cybertronian? But that's what you guys are right?"

"Yes."

"So, why does it like me?"

Optimus didn't reply, causing Izzy to irritably kick her feet up on the dashboard.

"I deserve at least a simple explanation"

The dashboard vibrated, and Izzy hastily kicked her feet down.

"It likes you because you are a life that is not Cybertronian"

Izzy squinted with confusion, replaying what he said over and over again. A device that recreates life in a Cybertronian way? What?

As she pieced together the thoughts in her mind, her eyes widened.

"It's making me like you?"

"No…"

"Okay, then what is it doing?!" She felt her voice crack as it raised, and she was doing everything to stop herself from digging her nails into the seat she sat in.

"Energon" Optimus's voice was low.

She thought back to the hallway dance with Bumblebee. Energon. The lights in the ceiling. It was their life source, she had remembered someone had said. Some kind of liquid energy that they sprung up all around.

"So, it's turning me into your kitchen lights?"

Optimus said nothing. Possibly because he didn't understand the joke, or maybe because he did understand it and didn't find it funny. Izzy dug her forehead into her palm, pressing deeply while simultaneously taking several deep breaths.

Optimus turned down the familiar road leading towards the base. Izzy shrunk away from the window, tears threatening to leak from her eyes. As the large door opened and everything went dark entering the tunnel, Izzy felt herself sink into the seats. She closed her eyes, finding the blackness soothing.

There was absolutely nothing in her life that she even that the remotest of ideas of how it would turn out. But one thing she did know, is when she closed her eyes, everything went dark, and all the problems were gone. And for that reason, she kept her eyes shut for the rest of the drive.


	9. Chapter 9

It was absolutely thee smallest room Izzy had ever seen in her life. Correction. It wasn't a room. It was a left-over space above the large alien computer before the ceiling was met. The flooring was made of the same concrete on the floor below while the ceiling had slats of wood.

There were no lights, no furniture. Just an empty little block of space.

Izzy gripped onto Bumblebee's fingers as he lifted her further up into the space before she carefully hopped down. Part of her wondered if the ground below her would cave into a million pieces. It wasn't like this space was made to support someone walking around. But as her feet landed on the cool pavement and she turned to face Bee, she realized this entire base had been made with the consideration there was thousand-pound aliens stomping around. A 125-pound girl wouldn't really make much difference.

Izzy sauntered to the back of the space, staring around the odd area. Bumblebee beeped a few times in question. Izzy walked in a small circle around the room and then one more time for good measure.

She didn't know really what to think. This was no apartment, it had no privacy nor did it really have a welcoming feelings. The spiderwebs were thick and she swore she saw a mouse dash across the wood slats above her. Izzy tried to picture where she could put things. A bed in the left corner, maybe a rug since this concrete flooring was so cold. Possibly a light? Her interior decorating skills were nonexistence but part of her could really see something in little space. This might work. This just might work.

Izzy walked towards Bee and sat down, her feet dangling over the edge. Bee beeped again curiously and gestured to the room behind her.

A small smile reaches her lips and she nods.

"I think this will work"

Bee beeped enthusiastically and did an excited hop that shook the floor. Izzy uneasily grabbed the flooring for balance glancing at the floor over 20 feet below her. Bee shrunk, his eyes widening with deep apology.

"Safety would be important. Maybe like some kind od railing here?" She pointed along the edge she was sitting on. Bee nodded in agreement, rapidly. "And maybe we could go shopping for some other stuff"

Bumblebee nodded again with excitement.

"I can get you money! Oh, so, so, so much money!" A young girls voice came through Bee's radio and Izzy laughed at the loan shark ad he had picked for his transmission.

"You were only supposed to be here for a few days" Ratchets irritated voice rang loudly as he made his way over. Bee flashed an irritable look over to his comrade who ignored it. Izzy uneasily stood up, feeling the shift of moods as Ratchet shouldered Bee out of his way. "Now look what you did"

He reached out to grab her arm and brought it up to look at. Izzy didn't move as he flared her arm around like she was a barbie doll.

Without even a second thought, his fingers grasped around her. The floor was lifted away from her and Izzy grabbed onto his fingers as she started to head towards his medical room.

Izzy watched the rooms pass her as he jostled her around in his clutch. When she looked up at him, he didn't return the glance. His eyes were narrowed, deep in thought. Something didn't feel right. Izzy squirmed slightly in his hold and this time he did look down to her.

"Stop moving"

Izzy reluctantly listened to him, even though she could feel a cramp starting in her side form the awkward position she was being held.

"I'm going to be okay, right?"

This appeared to catch Ratchet by surprise. He stared down at her, gently loosening his grip. There was a silence as he paused at the front of the room. He sighed, bringing her closer to his chest before entering the room, but Izzy could hear something escape his mouth.

"I don't know"

…

…

Lennox sat in his chair, his foot nervously tapping on the flooring below him. Epps stood behind him, his arms crossed.

"So, what are you gonna say?" Epps asked. Lennox rubs his forehead, distressed.

"The truth. That Izzy Beckett ran away from her stationed house, was picked up by Bumblebee but escaped during a battle. Yet to be found"

"You really got that mumble of words memorized to a T, huh?" Epps snorted, shaking his head.

"Well, that is the truth" Lennox muttered.

"You know Optimus knows something. I bet money he knows where she is."

Epps was cut off as a tall, well-built gentleman entered the room. His cheekbones were chiseled to such an extreme point, you would wonder if plastic surgery may have been involved. His movements were swift, not a single second wasted as he fixed his sleeve over his gold watch, his bright green eyes, dashing between Lennox and Epps.

"What is the word?"  
"We don't have any new information Secretary Wayne. We-"

"Please" The man waved his hand as if a fly was irritating him. "Call me Sean. Sean Wayne"

Lennox adjusted himself in his seat, giving a curt nod. Secretary Wayne had a reputation to him. Ever since he had taken over the position, things had changed in the upper departments. Any Autobot activity was constantly monitored and the government persistently demanded to have full updates. Since the Autobots had decided to reside in the United States of America, that meant they had to go by the rules of the leaders within it.

At first, no one was sure what to do about the situation. They tried to keep everything a secret, but as more fights broke out and more robot footage was appearing online-it was evident that there was something on the planet that was not human, and civilians were curious about their existence. An alien on earth? Everyone was ecstatic at this idea.

Sean Wayne on the other hand, was not. His main job was through foreign affairs but had navigated his way into N.E.S.T. The reason although, had never become clear.

Lennox could tell from the way Sean clenched his jaw, that today was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"Of course. Sean." Lennox gave a smile and was relieved to see the corner of Mr. Wayne's lips lift.

"They haven't found the girl?"

"No. We know Izzy Beckett ran away from her stationed house, was picked up by Bumblebee but escaped during a battle. Yet to be found"

Epps dropped his head, a laugh rising in his throat as he listened to Lennox recite the perfectly memorized sentence. His coughed, pounding on his chest as he realized the two pairs of eyes on him. He coughed again, trying to suppress another laugh and apologized, before pointing to the door.

"I'm going to go get some water"

He exited, leaving Lennox cringing into his palm. Sean leaned forward, his gaze, unwavering.

"Was it something I said?"

"No, no sorry. It's been a long day" Lennox shook his head. "We are all just tired"

Sean narrowed his eyes, making Lennox start to sweat profusely.

"Sorry to hear they are working you so hard." Sean turned away and started eyeing a few of the decorations on the wall. Lennox watched him parade around his office as if it was an art gallery. Sean settled on a photograph of Lennox's wife and kids, his eyes tracing every part of.

The silence started to give Lennox chills and he stood up, pointing at the photograph.

"That's my wife. Sarah. My two little girls-"

"They're beautiful"

Lennox nodded in agreement but felt his back tense. His buddies had been right about this Sean character. There was something about him he didn't like, although he couldn't place his finger on it.

"They look very happy" Mr. Wayne gave a small smile before turning back to Will. Lennox returned the smile, if only for it to be a friendly gesture.

Sean turned and gripped the chair in front of him and leaned towards Lennox, all signs of their possibly friendship, gone- as his eyes hardened.

"Here's the deal, Will. There was an overwhelming power surge that knocked out all electricity within 100-mile radius of that little "battle" that occurred."

Lennox nodded. He had not heard about this news. A power surge? Was that something Bumblebee did?

"Now I don't know if their little field bot is capable of that kind of power. Actually, I **know **that little bot isn't capable of that-"

"Bumblebee can a powerful little dude-"Lennox protested but stopped himself as Sean raised his head in surprise that he had been interrupted. Will quickly gazed down at the empty notebook in front of him.

"You sent that bot to look for something. He had the girl with him. Now, she is gone, leaving a Decepticon mashed to bits, and this so-called power source your Autobot friends had been chasing, is suddenly gone?"

"You think that Izzy took some powerful Cybertronian belonging?"

Lennox tried to keep his gaze as steady as he could. This was something that he had feared all along. Something had happened out there in the desert that the Autobots were not telling him and he wanted to know. But rounding up Optimus to talk to wasn't always the easiest thing, because it was impossible to locate him a majority of the time. But now, it was obvious someone else knew of this situation besides him.

"Find her. Bring her in" Sean growled before turning towards the door where his security guards waited for him. "We already have to live with these things, let's not give them something powerful as well"

"The Autobots are no threat to us, sir" Lennox protested, his fingers fidgeting under the desk. "They are trying to keep us safe"

Sean had nothing to reply to this. He turned and left with his guards, leaving a tense feeling in the air that Lennox could do nothing with but sit and stew in.

…..

…..

Izzy couldn't help but wonder if she was dreaming. A light in her vision was growing bigger and bigger, its brightness and warmth engulfing her completely. She could hear voices in the background, a few of them louder than the other.

But if one is to wonder if they are dreaming, can they truly be dreaming? Self-awareness of a dream, must make it a lucid dream? And if that's the case, she should be able to move.

Izzy made a motion to sit up, but immediately found she couldn't. Nothing was responding. Her legs, arms, even toes, were refusing to move in the way she was begging them to. Panic started to raise in her throat and a sob escaped.

"I…can't move"

Her eyes flared wildly as she tried to look around to her surroundings, but all she could see was that same light, growing bigger and bigger.

"She woke up."

"Don't move" Ratchet commanded, but Izzy found herself trying to do just that. Small twitches escaped her body as she continued to scream at her muscles to move but they kept refusing. Ratchet continued to tell her to calm down, to stop moving, panic raising in his voice but as she watched this bright light getting larger, every one of her thoughts screamed death. She was dying.

"I can't do this unless she is calm. It's going to keep going up at a rapid rate"

"What do we do?!" A radio crackled.

The commotion between the Autobots as they fought amongst themselves only made Izzy more restless. She felt her body tensing and refusing to relax, her muscles spasming in violent twitches.

"Don't let me die" She pleaded, over and over again.

"Bumblebee?" Optimus voice was low and urgent.  
Izzy could feel Bumblebee take off running as the ground shook with his every footstep. Izzy groaned and finally managed to slam her face to the side. Her neck movement was back! Gleefully she turned her head the other way while trying harder to open her eyes.

"Izzy! Stop! You are going to do real damage if you don't."

Izzy finally stopped moving as much as she could. She could feel her chest rising and falling faster than a thousand breaths a minute. Tears had managed to escape her closed eyes and she wondered if it was blood from some horrid surgery accident. What had happened?

She tried to focus on any and all events that she could remember. Ratchet had been there. Optimus too. They hadn't said much to her, but next thing she knew Ratchet had brought something up to her face and she had felt herself slipping, as if she was falling through her own body. Falling, constantly falling. It was an odd feeling that Izzy couldn't put her fingers on, one that made her feel like she wasn't in control of anything. Which only caused her anxiety to shoot up and her fingers starting to twitch.

It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice that she felt her body relaxed even a little. A voice she had heard thousands of times over the years but one that she hadn't expected to ever hear ever again.

"Izzy. Listen to me voice, okay?"  
Markus.

Izzy had no idea how he had gotten there but as she felt the familiar warmth of fingers on her cheek, she honestly didn't care. The familiarity that he held in her heart, was the closest to feeling safe then she had in a long time.

As far as she had known, he had been shipped off to some little house in the middle of nowhere like her, never to be seen again.

But for some reason, here he was here, in this room, next to her.

"I..can't move" Izzy managed to squeeze the words out of her throat and she felt her sweaty palm gently be taken in-between Markus's fingers.  
"It's okay. They had to put you under and you woke up mid evaluation." Markus said gently. "But Ratchet can't finish what he needs to do unless you are still. Okay?"

Izzy gave a slight nod and forced her body to relax.

"Just a couple mins Izzy" He said softly, and she could feel his fingers gently brush the hair away from her face.

She could feel a tugging sensation in her arm and her head screamed at her to move, defend herself. There was someone rummaging around her body, pulling things out, putting things in. Every movement, although numbed, she could feel it.

She gripped onto Markus's hand harder, trying to focus on something. Anything. Her cat. Her old job, what a joke. She wondered where she would be today. Probably in some office with an old man staring back at her with enough thirst to water an entire community.

Izzy grasped onto Markus's hand harder. She wasn't sure how much time had gone by. Minutes? Hours? It was impossible to tell.

But the last thing she remembered before everything went dark was Ratchet's voice filled with relief.

"Stabilized. It's stabilized"


	10. Chapter 10

Wrist. Ribcage. Boobs. Can't forget those. Throat. Cheeks.

Izzy traced her fingers to various parts of her body, pinching the skin between her nails. Each pinc caused her to wince in pain and a wave of relief washed over her body. Alive. She was alive.

The idea of opening her eyes was intimidating. What would be there when she did? Could she? Everything felt normal, except for a dull ache that seemed to pound perfectly to her heart beat.

"Good Morning, sleepy head"  
Markus.

She opened her eyes immediately, sitting up but felt an immediate stab of pain in side. Izzy grabbed her side groaning and felt a pair of hands hold her steady.

"Okay, well, you weren't supposed to do that, but now that you're up- drink this"

Her eyes adjusted to the bright light in the room quickly before she was able to see the familiar face in front of her. Markus had stitches along his forehead and bruises covering his body, but his eyes sparkled with life.

Izzy choked down the emotion raising in her throat as she reached forward to hug him. He returned the gesture, gently engulfing her in his embrace while running his hand softly over her head.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pushed her forehead deeper into his shoulder.

"I thought I would never see you again, they wouldn't let me visit you and I didn't even know if you were alive" She started to sob, snot dripping down her nose as she gripped his jacket harder, wanting to be closer. As close as possible. "I didn't want to lose you"

"I'm sorry. They wouldn't let me see you either. I didn't know what was going on." Markus held her head closer to him, and he swallowed deeply, trying to contain his own emotions. "Fuck man, this shit been crazy, you know?"

Izzy managed to force a laugh in between heavy breaths and nodded. They remained in each other's arms for many minutes. One would think that they would tire from it, but they didn't. They didn't notice their aching joints telling them to move, nor did they notice the shaking of the floor as footsteps approached.

Optimus paused a few steps away from them, his optics going from one to the other. It was an interesting sight to him. Human emotions were a curious thing.

"Can I borrow Izzy?"

Izzy looked up to Optimus, quickly wiping her eyes.

"When did you get here?"  
"A few moments ago. Can you walk?"

Izzy looked down at her feet in question. Was there more damage done than she had originally thought? She twitched her toes before gently swinging them over the bed. Her toes pressed against the cold concrete as she steadily started placing weight down.

To her surprise, it was rather hard to stand, let alone walk. Her body felt different, in some way she couldn't pin down. As if she was exploring someone else's body.

Izzy clenched and unclenched her fingers and she started taking steady steps towards the door.

The air was cold and damp, the most unpleasant weather for all Cybertronians. Optimus moved his arm around, wondering how much rust he had acquired since his arrival on earth.

Izzy was to the left of him, staring out at the city lights miles upon miles away. Optimus could sense she was waiting for him to speak, but he wasn't sure how to put the words in a way that would be easier for her. He had been told sometimes he could be a little blunt, and that human beings did something called "Sugar coating."

Optimus turned to Izzy before kneeling down to be closer. It was now or never.

"Do you know what happened, Izzy? To the Decepticon that attacked you and Bumblebee?"

Izzy blinked, her emotions becoming clouded on her face. It was hard to read what she was thinking as she continued to adjust her stance from one foot to the other.

"He died" She said softly. Optimus nodded gently, not wanting to press her any faster than what she was ready for. "I killed him"

Izzy's voice was cold and brittle, cutting through the wind, giving even Optimus an uncomfortable feeling.

"Yes" He replied. "Do you know how?"

"Optimus, what was in my body?"

Prime didn't move as he tried to calculate what to say. Communication was never his strong suit.

"It is called Cyrote. Created by Unicron himself"

"Unicron?" Izzy questioned before shaking her head. "Never mind, just keep going" Optimus gave a small nod.

"There are thousands of planets with organic life forms, very much like this one. Each one, containing different life forms, different intelligence." Optimus started to explain. "Each planet has an energy, one in which a Cybertronian could benefit from when…harvested"

"You mean like that Energon stuff?" Izzy squinted but Optimus nodded.

"After our planets fall, Energon was in short supply. We were dying off quickly, and with a war continuing it was essential to both sides to find more energon. While arriving on earth to look for the Allspark, we were made aware the Decepticons were also looking for something. Something had been expelled from our planet just like the Allspark had to keep it safe. Something that was capable of producing energon out of non cybertronians."

"Which was the Cyrote?" She asked. Optimus nodded in reply. Izzy turned towards him, lifting her arm up. "Ratchet removed it?"

The silence that followed confirmed Izzy's fear. She reached towards her sweatshirt sleeve and lifted it up. Over 30 stitches lined up her arm to her elbow. If it wasn't for the situation, she might have actually considered it to be pretty wicked looking.

"Where is it?" Izzy demanded. Optimus started to open his mouth to say something but was cut off as Izzy started quickly rustling through her clothing, feeling her body. "Where the fuck did it go? I don't even feel a bump!"

She was panicking, something that unfortunately seemed to be happening a lot lately. As she wrestled with her sweatshirt, she failed to notice Optimus's hand reaching towards her. His cold metal fingers grabbed around her, momentarily stunning her but she didn't protest.

Gently he placed her on his shoulder before he turned to walk towards the base. Izzy remained quiet as they walked back inside.

Optimus had mulled over the thought of saying too much, can be damaging. Sugar coat it, sugar coat it. That is what Lennox had always told him and he half wished Lennox knew about the situation. He could possibly be an asset to this situation. There were not too many human alleys he had today. Constantly being hid from the human population was not only impossible but really wore him down.

There would never be a day where he could feel accepted on this planet. Or at least not one that he could foresee any time in the future.

But as he looked down at Izzy, he wondered if there could be a possibility. Would she embrace who she was now? Would she deflect it, be ashamed of it? Ratchet had done everything he could, but it had been too late to reverse all the effects. It was either do what needed to be done, or she died.

Optimus paused in the hallways and looked up at the blue flickering energon lights around him. He remembered watching Bumblebee and Izzy dance together, the energon flickering in multiple patterns. Prime had enjoyed watching the scene that played out in front of him, and it had been another reminder that human beings and Cybertronians could possibly one day get along…

"What are we doing?" Izzy stood up on his shoulder looking up at the lights above her.

"Energon reacts around Crybertronians in the way it does because it has a want and need to be used. Just like human beings have a beating heart, it cannot work without the various of blood vessels, muscular tubes and oxygen, among other things."

Izzy found herself smiling.

"Wow, you know more about human anatomy than I do. Where did you learn all that?"  
"Google" He replied simply. He brought his hand up next to his shoulder in gesture for Izzy to climb on, which she did carefully.

Optimus carefully brought his other hand to the ceiling and touched a single light. The lights flickered down, a beautiful array of patterns.

"You try."

Izzy stared at him skeptically as he lifted her higher up towards the ceiling.

"Why would I try?"

Optimus said nothing, holding his hand steady. Izzy gazed down at the long distance below her. She wondered how long the fall would be until her feet hit the ground. A few seconds? People who survived those long falls always said that everything went by super slow, but from the falls she had experienced within the last week, it had been nothing but fast, painful occurrences.

Izzy reached her hands out towards one of the small energon bulbs. There were so many of them to choose from, but she chose the one right above her to reach towards.

A slight flicker caused her to quickly withdraw her hand. What had happened? Why did it flicker?

She turned to look down at Optimus.

"I don't understand why I'm doing this-"

"-You will" Optimus said softly. His optics glowed with that bright blue color that Izzy had become so adjusted to. She felt safe, which was saying a lot. There weren't many moments that she had felt that way lately, but in this moment she did.

She looked back up at the energon and struck her hand out. Her finger tips touched the one of the small lights.

Her heart started to pound as every single light glowed fifty times brighter, the entire hallway becoming a bright, blue beautiful hue of light. A low hum began, following by a pulsating pattern of waves following down every single blue bulb, all the way down to the floor.

Izzy retraced her quickly, placing it on her thumping chest.

Optimus brought his hand down to his face where he carefully studied her reaction. She didn't say anything for a long period of time, the room absolutely silent.

But it wasn't silent to Izzy. Her thoughts were screaming different explanations, anything that could explain what just happened. Anything except the truth that she didn't want to come to realize.

Her hands dropped to her sides as her expression fell pale. With the remaining energy she had, she looked up to meet Optimus's gaze.

"It recognized me."

Her whisper was barely audible as she choked on the words.

"It recognized you" Optimus repeated, further enforcing what Izzy longed to not hear. She brought her hands out in front of her, as if waiting for them to implode.

"I'm not human anymore, am I"  
"You are human" Optimus reassured her. "Just not as much as you were before"

Izzy choked on a laugh, but tears streamed down her face as she stared down at her shaking fingers.

"Oh my god, I'm a fucking monster" She wiped the tears away from her face, as they continued to silently roll down her face.

"You look at us as monsters?" Optimus kept his gaze steady. He wondered if he had not sugar coated it enough? Would Lennox be shaking his head in the corner of the room with a look of humiliation right about now?

But he hadn't actually said it to her. He didn't actually say the words "You are part Cybertonian now" which is what he normally would have done. It was logical to him to break things down in the simplest of matters, to keep conversations crisp, clear and well understood with no chance of misunderstanding. But as he stared at the sobbing, snot dripping human female in front of him, he realized, maybe that would have been the easier route this time.

"No, no, but me I'm the monster. I'm not human, I'm not one of you. I'm this half…human, half cyber..something."

Optimus didn't have time to respond. He had realized they were not alone as soon as she had begun talking but was unable to hide anything in time.

"Are you fucking kidding me"  
The man's voice carried through the hallways with the deepness and authority it was entitled to.

Optimus and Izzy both looked down to the man standing in the center of the hallway.

Lennox.

With his arms folded and an expression unreadable. He had heard everything.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

*Five months later*

There is a thing called "Spiraling" that is used a lot in conversation. For example.

"Did you hear that Olivia is spiraling? Yeah man, she's crazy"

Or

"Dude, Travis is spiraling out of control"

These are great and accurate representations of the word when used to talk about someone, and as Izzy raised her hands to the ceiling above her, in bliss as she swayed her body to the music, she wondered how many people that knew her, would consider her to be "Spiraling".

It had been five months. Five, absolutely, disgusting long months from which she had escaped the government/Autobot base with the intention of starting her new life. And it had been shaky to say the lease and the thoughts that trapped Izzy daily were pounding so hard in her head, that not even the bass of the music could drown them out.

What are you supposed to do when your entire world caves around you? Everything you ever have known, becomes nothing? The people you knew? Gone. The relationships you had? Gone. The person you thought you were? Gone.

If there is one great thing about being on planet earth, its being human. At the top of the pecking order. But what if you are not human?

Izzy had contemplated this many times. What if she had been born a mouse? Yes, her brain would be smaller than a pea, but maybe that would mean that all the emotions you deal with as a human being, would be nonexistent?

Love, lust, loss. The three L words that human beings live off of. That we cannot live without. You cannot be human without loss. Even if you know absolutely no one, one day you will die. You cannot escape loss.

These thoughts were logical, yet irrational to what Izzy used to think about. A side effect she was sure sprouted from the Cyrote that was coursing through her veins. It was changing her. Her thoughts, her emotions. She could see things clearly now.

For instance, the man to her right, that was holding onto a table for balance, had just taken a hit of coke through the not so subtle metal necklace around his neck. His little "storage unit" to keep the "goods" was a simple cross that hung on his neck. The top opened, revealing a long, almost knife-like dagger, where he could scoop out a line of powder onto it and snort it before anyone even noticed.

But Izzy noticed. Not because she saw him taking the drugs, but because of small minor details that were placed. The small amount of white powder around his nose. His dilated eyes. From there, she simply had to watch the way he was acting to figure out what drug he was snorting. It was easy. Sometimes she even felt like the next Sherlock Holmes.

The song switched, and the bass started bumping harder than before. Izzy placed her hands down, surveying the surroundings. There was one thing she had come for and she was yet to achieve that.

Izzy grabbed the man to her right, pushing her chest up against him. He was startled at first by the advancement, but very much caved to the attention. Izzy kept her lips close to his, but just far enough away in a teasing manner.

Her fingers reached around his neck, gently caressing him, keeping his attention on her. He didn't notice how she was carefully unlocking the necklace. Izzy slipped the necklace into her pocket right as he reached in to kiss her and she quickly turned away.

The disappointment and confusion that radiated off the man's face lasted for a while as she pushed her way through the crowd. He didn't notice his expensive, drug necklace was gone until she was far outside the building.

Izzy's heels clicked on the concrete sidewalk as she made her way to her next destination. It was like clockwork every night and she enjoyed the schedule she had. It kept her from thinking too much. If there was something to follow, she would do it. There goes that "logical thinking" pattern again.

She opened the cross necklace and peered inside. Plenty left. This man must have just arrived at the club when she had spotted him. It was the best score she had in a while.

Izzy scoped out a decent amount and snorted it, not missing a beat as she continued down the sidewalk. Immediately she could feel the effects coursing through her veins. Every drop of rain, every car honk in the far distance, even footsteps from a far distance she could hear.

Speaking of footsteps.

Izzy paused, closing her eyes. Someone was there, behind her. At least 20 feet back. She didn't move, processing her thoughts. Threat? Non threat? Man from the bar? He didn't seem the very confrontational type.

She started to walk forward again and listened carefully as the footsteps began once more behind her. It was clear now she was being followed, but this didn't distract her at all. In fact, it may have even excited her. In the five months she had ducked under to hide, there were a few tricks she had learned and hid up her sleeve. Finally given a reason to use them? Sounded delicious.

Izzy curved into the dark alleyway before turning around to face her foe. Her fists clenched and unclenched at her side as she eyed the alleyway entrance. Waiting. Waiting. When were they going to show their face?

The smallest shadow peaked around the corner, looking to see her position. Izzy cocked her head, taking in his posture. Military based most likely. He knew to check the angles.

"Come out. Let's talk" She took a step forward and wiped her nose as a small amount of wipe powder threatened to drizzle out. "Why are you following me?" She demanded.

The man hesitated, keeping his position behind the wall. Izzy could hear his breathing. It wasn't fast like she expected. He wasn't nervous at all, which made her uneasy. In what way would anyone be confident if they knew the person they were following was aware of them? She had blown his cover?

The whole thing made Izzy uneasy and she took a step back, teetering restlessly on her heels.

The man rounded the corner, his hands up to the sky in surrender.

"I'm here to talk"

Lennox. William Lennox. This man never seemed to go away.

Izzy relaxed her shoulders as she stared at the man in front of her. He couldn't be trusted, for many reasons.

The day he had found out about everything, had been the end .Everything had ended. When once she had seen it possible to find a home, he had taken that away. Talking about testing, alerting the government, protective custody. Taking away her freedom as a human being.

So she ran away. It was not nearly as difficult as she figured it would be. Swiping a security guards card, changing into a uniform that she found in a locker- and out she went. It was the only thing that made sense to. It was either stay and become a human test subject or leave and try to live. What choice would anyone have made?

Izzy readjusted her position as she eyed Lennox carefully.

"Will. How'd you find me"

"Wasn't easy" He replied simply, letting his hands rest back down at his side, comfortable. Izzy eyed his outfit. A baggy sweatshirt and jeans accompanied by tennis shoes. He was not in uniform which momentarily relieved her. Could he be here simply as a friend?

But it wasn't that simple. The simple shift of his weight, she could see the hardened exterior of a bullet proof vest under his sweatshirt. He had come ready for confrontation, even if he didn't seem to hint at that.

Izzy calmly reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife. Lennox froze in his position, his eyes uneasily trained on the weapon that she held. Calmly, she flicked the blade back and forth between her fingers.

"They say to never bring a knife to a gun fight. But clearly you came only expecting one and not the other" She spoke softly, with venom in her voice that could make anyone quiver. Lennox nodded and looked down at his sweatshirt.

"I had to be careful"

Izzy snorted and reached down, starting to take her heeled boots off. Each one she dropped in a muddy pile next to her, leaving her in socks.

"What are you doing" Lennox frowned. Izzy reached down and grabbed a rock the size of her fist and held it in her other hand while still twirling the knife.

"Do the Autobots know about this shit?"

"Know about what?" Lennox demanded taking a step forward. Izzy stopped twirling her knife, pointing it at him instead.

"Your ambush plan"

With a quick turn, she threw the rock at full speed towards an open window. With a sickening crack and thud, it hit her destined target. A man slumped threw the window, his N.E.S.T gear, gleaming in the moonlight. Blood dribbled down his forehead at the open headwound she had inflicted.

Izzy turned back towards Lennox placing her knife back in her pocket. Lennox looked petrified. It almost made her feel bad. Here was this big, strong man who had gone through more shit than anyone should, but yet here she was, throwing more at him. Making his job more difficult. She had no doubt that his orders were to bring her in. By now, the government probably knew of her existence and found her to be a curious thing. Something worth studying. Something that could be an advantage in future wars. These thoughts had haunted her day and night over and over again. Being tied up. Tested. Studied. The autobots had been in that position once. She refused to end up like them.

Izzy walked up to him, stopping a mere foot away from him. She could have sworn she smelled garlic on his breath.

"Tell you mean to leave"

"You're making a mistake-"Lennox whispered.

"The mistake I made, was giving you this much of my time. Call off you men, Will"

"We are not here to hurt you, Izzy. We are here to help." Lennox's voice was pleading. To a point that Izzy half believed him. She could hear the patter of feet coming up quickly in various of directions.

They stood, face to face, without saying a word. Izzy already knew how far away the rest of the men were judging by the increasing sounds of the steps. She shook her head and took a step back.

"Wrong answer" She stated, before turning and running, her bare feet barely making a sound on the concrete.

"IZZY!" Lennox screamed after her, but she ignored him. "She's going down South Veiled, street, I repeat, she's going down South Veiled street!"

Izzy started grabbing at handles of each of the apartment doors she ran by. Each one of course, was safely locked. But it didn't take long for an innocent bystander to walk out of their home, the door starting to swing shut behind them. It was just enough time for her to squeeze her fingers around the hinges before it did. An opening.

She flew open the gate and headed into the apartment building, flying up the stairs. The shouts outside were loud now. If they had seen her enter the building, she wouldn't have been surprised. But if they never saw her exit, then that would build enough time. But there was nowhere to exit?

As her legs pumped up the stairs, she found herself wondering if dashing into the apartment building was the best of ideas.

A large crash sounded, causing Izzy to quickly grab the railing in surprise. She hesitantly looked down through the railings to meet the eyes of a Nest member looking straight back up at her. His gun raised quickly, and Izzy yelped, pushing herself up against the side railing as something flew through the air.

A dart slammed into the drywall above her, injecting its fluid into the wall. Izzy held her chest, as the substance started to drip down to her feet.

The heavy guards started to continue up towards her and another dart flew dangerously close. She had to move now, or she would have no chance.

Izzy pushed herself up, lurching forward up the stairs as the men started their quick ascent up the stairs. They held their guns tightly to their side, but not tightly enough where they wouldn't be able to be ready for anything that came out in front of them. They were trained. Trained for anything. Trained to fight against giant, robotic aliens.

Izzy tried one of the side doors and darted in, gently closing it behind her as softly as possible. With all likeliness, they had one person going through every level of this apartment. It wouldn't be long until they were checking this hallway.

"They can't find me. They can't find me" She whispered over and over to herself as she tired each doorknob while kicking floormats aside. Someone had to have been careless enough to leave something unlocked.

Her luck almost seemed to run out, until one of the floor mats gave a small jingle. Izzy quickly stopped, dropping to her hands and knees. A small silver key.

She stood up, jamming the key in the lock while cursing under her breath as her hands shook. The door knob turned in her hand and she dashed instead, softly closing it behind her and locking just as a N.E.S.T agent entered the hallway.

Her breathing calmed as she stared around the dark apartment, her fingers grasping the walls, looking for the switch. She could hear the footsteps outside the door as the guard looked down the hallway. Hiding here got her time, but how much? Who knew. But time.

Her fingers grabbed onto a light switch and she flipped it on as quietly as possible. A dull lamp turned on in the corner, illuminating the small studio apartment. No one was home. This was beyond the best thing that had ever happened. Maybe luck was finally on her side. She laughed. Probably not.

Izzy raided the small closet immediately, taking some black sweatshirt and sweatpants out to change into. Flipping the hood up onto her head, she approached the window. By now, they would be to the roof, spreading out to check everywhere. There wasn't much time before they would start breaking down doors. She knew they were ruthless.

Izzy opened the window and grabbed onto the screen, pulling it out silently and placing it in the room. The shouting of the soldiers echoed down the alleyway was loud and clear. They were still looking for her.

With exceptional caution, Izzy slid her legs out the window, grabbing onto the ledge. About four floors up. Wasn't a pleasant fall, but it would be manageable if she could grab onto things on the way down. She crouched down, listening to the sound of her heart beat and breathed in deeply. Her fingertips started to glow a light blue. Closing her eyes tightly, she concentrated. This was a trick she had been working on for a while.

The glowing electric light, quickly sparked up through her veins, traveling up her neck. Over and over again, pulsating like an energy source.

Izzy blinked, clearing her eyes of the dust as she stared out. Everything was clear. It was logical. What she had to do, was right there in front of her, laid out like a puzzle. She liked this other side of her. Sometimes she would joke around and call this alternative side "Bluebird" because everything glowed blue, like the energon, and because she felt she could do anything. Even fly like bird. As if it was a whole other person. The confidence to attack on tasks that normally she never would feel like she could. Her thoughts were different in many different senses. This was the Cybertronian part of her.

Her pupils were gone. No longer did she have gentle green eyes searching around the alleyway. Her entire eyes glowed white with the faintest hint of blue.

Izzy jumped forward, twisting her body as she fell to shift her weight. Her hands perfectly grabbed the railing of a patio, a floor down. She kept swinging her body during each fall, managing to shift her weight enough to grab onto the below patio railings.

It was less than ten seconds before her feet were on the ground below and she walked away, unscathed.

Her heart raced as she tried to remain calm, keeping her eyes, therefore the lights, down towards the ground. She had not figured out how to control how long she stayed in her Cybertronian state. Sometimes it lasted a day. Sometimes an hour. Sometimes a minute. There was really no telling. Bluebird had a mind of her own.

Izzy pulled her coat up higher around her neck as the chilly air started to pick up as she hurried down the sidewalk. Any second now they would be on the roof and the fact that air support hadn't come in yet, surprised her. For whatever reason, they were trying to keep this all on the down low, which disturbed her. They had no reason to do such.

"You really are fascinating"

Izzy spun around, swinging her fist. The strike landed, perfectly in the palm of a man's hand as he held her fist peacefully, an inch from his nose. "Quick too. For a human"

"Let go of me. That's your only warning" Izzy growled, but she could feel her heart beating out of her chest. This man wasn't afraid of anything. Her appearance, her abilities. None of that seemed to faze him. She swung her other fist, but he was able to grab it midair as well, quickly spinning her around, kicking her legs out from under her. It all happened so fast, it was as though it was a dream. The next thing she knew, her face was being slammed into the asphalt.

Izzy desperately kicked her legs out, struggling as he pressed his knee into her back.

"I know you aren't going to scream, because you're smart. You don't want them to find you. So you would do best to listen to me."

Izzy brought her back leg up, trying to kick as hard as she could, but it was worthless. The man twisted Izzy's arm up higher. She groaned, biting down on her lip so hard it bled. He didn't stop twisting until-

CRACK.

Izzy screamed, keeping her mouth shut to stop the sound from traveling. Her entire body started to shake. The man carelessly dropped her arm down onto the ground.

"There, not that I have your attention. Let's talk"

He got off her back and walked around to kneel down in front of her. Izzy's eyes blazed to life and she lunged managing to grab his neck. Within a half a second, he snatched her arm, whirling her around and slammed her face into the apartment wall.

Stars. She could have sword she saw stars. Not all of them were white. A few of them looked red. Red? Or was that blood.

Izzy opened her eyes wider. Where was she? Her fingers touched the wet surface below her before reaching up to touch her face. Wet. Sticky.

It was all coming back to her, but not in time as the man grabbed the collar of her shirt and lifted her up to face him.

"I met Markus a few days ago. Charming kid"

He raised his fist and slammed it down across Izzy's cheek, dropping her on the ground. Izzy tried to raise her hand in surrender as the man took a step back, brushing blood off the sleeve of his collar.

Her eyes flashed a few times, before dying out, like a flashlight.

"It's unfortunate I couldn't use him for this plan. But then I realized…maybe I can"

Izzy coughed, red drool starting to drip down her chin. The man leaned forward and lifted Izzy's head up to meet his eyes.

It was the first time she really took him in. Took in all of him. His purple suit, his large and long figure, and his eyes…he never blinked. Not even once. His focus was unwavering. There was something there Izzy had never seen before, and she could feel Bluebird, starting to fight against her inner self. A need to defend her against this thing before her, although she was already defeated.

A small name tag on his coat, flashed her attention. Sean Wayne.

He pulled her face back to meet his hard gaze.

"That name means nothing to you. Nor does it mean anything to anyone else" His voice was low, as though he was worried he would be heard. "Not listen to me closely."

Izzy felt her eyes starting to close. The exhaustion and defeat of the beating she took, setting in.

"They are going to take you back to the base. You let them do whatever studies they want. Gain their trust. On the third day…wake up! This is important" Mr. Wayne shook Izzy's shoulders roughly as her head started to droop. "On the third day, you will go to the center of the Autobot base in the middle of the night. You will make sure you are not seen, and you will bring only yourself."

He dropped her head, and she plummeted to the ground weakly. Sean took a step back, seeming to listen to the sounds around him.

"They will be here soon." He looked down at Izzy before taking a small step towards her, pressing his shoe into her fingers. "Remember. Befriend them. They need to trust you. If you can't do this, everyone you know, starting with Markus…" He shifted his weight, pressing down on her fingers until several gruesome cracks followed.

Izzy got the message. It wasn't hard to understand. Do as she was told, or everyone died. She was almost grateful she was in shock. Her whole body was numb, her vision almost appeared to be dreamlike, as if she was swimming through the night. The pain from her fingers carried up through her head, as though it was nothing but fish swimming up towards the sky.

Sean stared down at her, a smile crossing his face and Izzy could sworn his eyes were red in that moment. Was it her own blood that was crushing her vision? It seemed impossible to tell.

She could hear someone shouting but it sounded like it was echoing from miles away. Every second, something new was happening. Soldiers and guns pointed down. Did they shoot?

A second later, Lennox was staring down at her. When did he get there? Izzy squinted. Was she blacking out? Did they shoot her with those annoying dart things?

She uncomfortably closed her eyes. Three days. Sean Wayne. Something was happening. Something bad. And she couldn't tell anybody.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Bumblebee paced the hallway, back and forth as Mudflap and Skids took turns throwing a large wrecking ball to each other. Each time one caught it, their goal was to throw it even harder than the last time, the impact of each catch, pushing them further and further away from each other.

"This is not benefiting you in anyway" Crosshairs stated as he strode past them, a disinterested expression glued on his face. Though he would never admit it, he was jealous of the enjoyment they appeared to be having. "Train to be warriors. Not childish scrap bots"

"We aint training for anything" Mudflap caught the ball, his feet screeching across the concrete.

"Ain't you ever have fun, yoga bot?" Skids questioned as he braced himself for the incoming ball.

"Yoga?" Crosshairs sat down and took out his blade, starting to sharpen it against a rock.

"Yeah. Humans do that relaxing stuff you think so much bout. Sit. Stand. Close their eyes and do all that breathing stuff." Mudflap replied before leaning back and throwing the concrete ball as hard as he could.

Skids grunted as the ball hit his chest and he toppled over to the ground. Mudflap enthusiastically lifted his hands in the air in triumphant victory.

"No way human beings would ever know Cybertronian techniques" Crosshairs snorted, with disregard.

"I don't know man, maybe we ain't so different from them" Skids pushed the ball off his chest and watched it hit the floor and roll a few feet away to where Bee continued to pace back and fourth down the hallway. Energon was starting to leak through his stab wound from the desert, but he didn't appear to notice.

"What's with him?"

"If you paid any attention to what has been happening, maybe you would know"

Bumblebee paused his wandering to turn towards the new voice. Sideswipe stood at the doorway, evenly eyeing the many optics that met his gaze. It wasn't common to see him around the base. Sideswipe was someone who was very work orientated, but he was also someone who was very good at what he did. Respected and admired. And for this reason, he was very commonly found outside the base.

Crosshairs continued to sharpen his blade, shaking his head.

"So they caught the little human that has the Cyrote. You ask me, it's a good- "

"No one asked you" Sideswipe stated. "Someone got to her first."

"Oh shit! Like the Decepticreeps?" Skids got off the ground, his eyes widening in surprise. For a bot that had a lot of sarcasm, he tended to lose his humor when it came to talking about real life situations, unlike his twin.

Bee stepped forward shaking his head, beeping rapidly.

"Human. Traitor. Terrible." The words spurted from his radio as he tried to form a sentence but was unable to do in his rage.

"Yo, chill out Bee, it's not like you were her guardian or something" Mudflaps blurted out, but immediately felt himself shrinking under Bee's glare.

"Yeah. He lost that privilege with Sam. Maybe the boss bot doesn't think he has the ability anymore" Crosshairs had a smile on his face as the comment rolled off his lips. He knew the repercussions of that he had just said, and he was prepared. Teasing Bee was a game to him, one that he enjoyed playing.

Bumblebee lunged as Crosshairs quickly brought his blade up in front of him. Bee didn't seem to care as he grabbed onto the blade with his fingers, pushing it towards the green bots face. Crosshairs desperately tried to keep the blade steady, but the pressure of a whole bot pushing on his blade, was starting to make him cave. Energon dripped down the blade as the edge started to slice through Bumblebee's hands but Bee didn't seem notice. His pain was blocked out by the angry words screaming in his head that he would never be able to say out loud.

"What are you doing!?" Crosshairs shrieked. Bee slammed his facemask down before he pushed forward, shoving his hands deeper into the blade, quickly gaining the upper hand. Crosshairs fell backwards, desperately trying to keep his sword up as Bee started to advance towards him.

"You would do best, to keep my name out of your mouth" The radio transmission spoke, as Bee raised himself to his full height. The silence in the room was enough to make anyone uncomfortable. Crosshairs carefully started to stand up, wearily eyeing the energon drops scattered across the floor. Sideswipe stood to the side, clocking the tension in the air.

"I was teasing Bee" He stammered softly. "You know I'm always teasing" Carefully placing the blade on the ground and keeping his eyes trained down he muttered his apologies.

"Ratchet, can you meet Bee in the med room?" Sideswipe transmitted before rolling towards Bee.

"Now what did he do" Ratchet grumbled back. "Can't leave that damn bot alone for 2 seconds"

Sideswipe gently took Bee's hands in his, looking at the long slice marks across his palms. Bee didn't take his eyes off Crosshairs, his body still ridged with rage.

"Bee." Sideswipe consoled softly as he held his friends' hands. "There are things worth fighting for…"

"Our human allies are one of them"

How long Optimus had been there, none of them knew. Bumblebee closed his eyes, trying to refocus as Prime stepped further into the room, Ironhide following closely behind him. If Optimus had the ability to grow bags under his eyes, he would have had them. His entire composure was nothing compared to how it usually was. His legs lightly scraped on the concrete, as though he was too tired to pick them up completely and his gaze was fixated on the floor. Weary. Confused maybe.

He stopped in front of his team, surveying the spilt energon and concerned faces. If he was thinking of asking questions, he didn't. Instead, he lifted his head to meet each and every face that looked back to him.

"The Decepticons are planning something. As to what, I cannot be sure."

"How do you figure that? They do bullshit attacks and then run and hide. Been the same thing for years. Doesn't seem to be someone with a plan to me" Arcee chipped in as she jumped down from her hanger.

"Shouldn't you be on patrol with Drift?" Crosshairs muttered his disinterested in her joining.

"Shouldn't you be?" She hit back, causing him to roll his eyes. Bee's face mask went up and he walked away from Sideswipe, beeping irritably.

"Bee's right" Sideswipe declared. "The attacks have been less. They have been busy. Doing something, planning something."

"Do you have any leads?" Ironhide asked but was met with a short shake of the head.

"Five months the Decepticons have been gone. Five months, Izzy had disappeared. I don't find that to be a coincidence. Do any of you?" Sideswipe hypothesized, pointing to the members of the group.

"We need to find out if she knows anything" Optimus concluded, looking back to his allies.

"How we do that boss? We ain't allowed to see her." Skids sat down on the wrecking ball next to Mudflap.

Prime looked down at the small human door that lead to the base. The same door that hundreds of visitors had come in and out of. The same door that Izzy Beckett had at one point, and it was important that he see her again.

"Could grab her and blow the joint up?" Hound transferred through the intercom. No one laughed.

Optimus lightly shook his head, if only to muse for a moment on Hounds hopeful dream of blowing up a building. "It's always an option"

"Not until we know Izzy is safe."

"What if this is more we realize." Sideswipe muttered to himself, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. His expression was grave as he started running through the options in his head.

"What if there is a human deal going on with the Decepticons?"

No one uttered a word as they considered this possibility. Optimus thoughts were firing a million per second as he started to question it. It wouldn't have been the first time a human had decided to pair up with the Decepticons. Some human beings would do anything for money. A little boost in the economy. The feeling of being important, and the Decepticons offered them that and more.

"It would explain how someone got to her first. If they were watching." Arcee nodded in agreement. "But who in this base would do that?"

Silence. No one knew.

The dim light swung back and forth on ceiling above creating a very eerie feeling. A table, two chairs, and a bottle of water were the only things in the interrogation room. Agent Anderson rubbed his forehead as he tried to find the words to say but found none.

Izzy sat across from him, slumped in the chair, her hands placed on the desk, complimented with handcuffs. She picked at the Cyrote band around her wrist, as though she was still hopeful she could remove it. It glowed lightly every time she picked at it, which Frank found rather interesting. It appeared to be exceptionally sensitive to her touch.

"Does that hurt?" He spoke up, his voice overpowering the quiet room. He grimaced an apology for the outburst. Izzy stopped picking at the band and glanced up at him.

It was only then he could really see the extent of the damage she had. Her left eye was almost swollen shut, accompanied by black bruising. The six stitches on the top of her head was hard to ignore as she tucked her hair behind her ears, being careful not to disturb the sling in which her arm rested in.

"No." She said softly, running her finger over the Cyrote band. "It feels like I'm pinching my skin"

Anderson nodded slowly. This was good. The conversation was initiated, and she was speaking. She hadn't said anything when arriving in their medical bay, and he worried she would continue to remain mute. People tended to shut off to avoid talking about trauma, but he knew it was important to get any information out of her this time. Other people's safety could rely on it.

He pushed the water bottle towards her, but she seemed uninterested.

"How is Bee doing?" Her voice was quiet as she started to pick at the Cyrote again.

"Still recovering. But doing well. Better than the last time you saw him. He always bounces back fast." Anderson said carefully. He had been ordered to not speak much of the Autobots. Focus on the questions that mattered.

"I'm sure you have plenty of questions" She commented, reading his mind. Frank clasped his hands together, giving a small nod.

"Yes. And I am sure you can guess what a few are. But we are in no hurry. Got plenty of time"

Her jaw clenched uncomfortably, and Frank paused, reciting what he had just said. Was she in a hurry for something? For what?

Izzy looked around the room, her gaze resting on the cameras that pointed down at them before looking away and tightening her lips together to form a line.

"It's just my comrades listening. They are here to help you, just like I am" He tried to reassure her, but this only appeared to make her more uncomfortable then before.

They stayed in this position for a few minutes. The silence was overbearing to Agent Anderson, but he knew that the best thing he could do, was to let her go at her own pace.

She took a deep breath and leaned forward, finally allowing herself to meet his gaze.

"I don't feel like I need to explain why I ran away. I think that is rather straightforward. I'm still human in some sense, and being a test subject to your little buddies out there wasn't on my to do list"

Her voice was gentle, although the words were filled with resentment. Anderson kept his expression mutual, in hopes she would continue.

"I hitchhiked to San Francisco. Wasn't hard. Truck drivers are easy to convince. From there…I went back to my old job. Rich people with fat wallets, looking to scam pretty young girls. Easy to spot them a mile away. Got a different Airbnb every day."

Anderson nodded. She had a smart approach to not being caught. Cash only. Using stolen credit cards. His team had taken this into account while searching for her, knowing it wouldn't be easy.

"I gotta know, how did you find me?" Her forehead nodded confused. "I was doing everything right"

Anderson felt a chuckle escape his mouth and he nodded.

"You were. On our behalf, I would consider it dumb luck. One of our agents left town for the weekend to go to San Fran for a work meeting. Guess he decided to have a little fun and went into a strip club, saw you there and reported it in…It was great for us, but now he's in the middle of a divorce after his wife found out of his where a bout's"

For the first time, Izzy smiled. It wasn't much, but it was a start and Frank was grateful to see it.

"Dumb luck without a doubt" She agreed and switched her attention to picking at her handcuffs instead. "Well, the rest of the story you probably already know. Lennox followed me. I ran. And here we are."

And just like that, she shut down as quickly as she had lit up and Frank knew then and there, this was going to be a lot harder than he hoped. He cleared his throat and reached into his pocket.

"We will start off with small questions, okay? Starting easy." He brought out his phone, opened it and slid it towards her. A video was up of security footage. It started to play, and Izzy watched it from her slumped position.

Everything was dark and looked to be as it was supposed to be, before a body dropped into the frame, quickly grabbing onto the railing of the apartments patio. Izzy watched herself swing gracefully from ledge to ledge, making her way down to the ground as though it was nothing. It was rather fascinating.

The video ended, and Frank took the phone back, sliding it into his pocket.

"We already know that is you, so I won't bother asking stupid questions"

"How sweet of you" Izzy's eyes narrowed at the comment making Frank cringe. He was forgetting that he couldn't treat her the same way as the other people he normally interrogated. He couldn't let her shut down on him.

"What I want to know, is how you did that"

"Ninja training when I was little" She replied shortly, before lifting her handcuffs up to her face, curiously looking at them as though they were a toy. Anderson ignored the comment.

"Would it have anything to do with that?" He pointed towards the Cyrote.

"Clearly. I thought you were not going to ask stupid questions?"

Anderson licked his lips, ignoring the comment before continuing.

"It is impressive what it can do" He stated, leaning back in his seat. "What else can you do with it?"

"Bluebird" Izzy said softly adjusting the handcuffs to be aligned with the Cyrote band. "I call her Bluebird"

Frank tried to mask his confusion as he twiddled his thumbs together. "Who is "her""

"The other side of me. I thought she should have a name" Izzy shrugged as though the comment was normal, but to her it was. It was her reality. "She is intelligent. More than me. Looks at things in a different way. A problem solver"

"In what way?" Anderson carefully questioned. In a quick flash of light from Izzy's wrist, the handcuff fell off, a burnt hole in the chain. She shook out her wrist, staring at Frank as she did so. He kept his eyes up to her face, refusing to acknowledge the fact she had just technically "broke free"

"She also doesn't like feeling trapped" Izzy replied softly before using the band to burn through the other handcuff. The handcuffs dropped to the ground by her feet and she slumped back in the chair as if to say, "I'm done here."

"Did she do that to you?" He gestured to her arm that sat in the sling. Izzy clicked her finger nails together in an anxious habit, her foot bouncing on the floor as she debated what to say.

Her eyes traveled to the red flashing light on the camera that stared down at them. Frank watched her shrink back into her seat, defeated. Who was it, that she was so afraid of? Clearly someone that would have access to the feed, but why would she be uncomfortable with them.

"I can't help you if you don't trust me and-"

"I do trust you" She cut him off, and when she looked up, Anderson could see the trace of tears in her eyes, in which she quickly brushed away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "I do trust you. Which is why…I'm sorry. I can't say anything"

"Why is that?"

Izzy closes her eyes and shakes her head, going silent. Frank knew that the conversation was over, and he wondered if he had pushed too hard. He placed his head in the palm of his hand, mulling over the questions he wanted to ask. Maybe there was some way to still get an answer from her. Maybe Lennox would have better luck? After all, he had been there for a lot of the stuff she had gone through. Possibly he could piece together why she was so uncomfortable.

Before he had a chance to open his mouth again, Izzy reached forward and grabbed the water bottle. She took a small sip of it before willingly letting some of the water escape and dribble down her chin. Frank frowned, watching as the water collected in a small puddle on the desk but didn't move to stop her.

She capped the water bottle and muttered an apology before starting to wipe up the water with her sleeve. But as she wiped the water, she gingerly used her other hand to press down into the water and write something. A message that only he would be able to see through the light reflecting above them.

3 DAYS.

Anderson kept his face straight as he read the message. Izzy kept her look down as she continued to wipe the water away, before finally smearing the message with her sweatshirt. Frank leaned back in his seat, watching Izzy uncomfortably rub her hands together. She was scared…of what?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

How do you address everything and everyone you love on a single sheet of white paper? Do you draw a picture? Do you write in neat paragraphs how much you love them? There was not nearly enough paper in the world for that.

Izzy hovered her pen over the blank sheet of paper in front of her. The possibilities of what to say were endless. She wondered if this was essentially her first will? In the chance it was the last thing she would write, it might be important to treat it as such. But it wasn't like she had many possessions to give away, or many wise words to share with her nonexistent kids.

She tapped the pen a few times, trying to wake up the ink, before carefully placing it down on the page. Now what? Isn't this the part where inspiration is supposed to flow through your veins and down to the pen, and you write something eerily beautifully that everyone will remember? Maybe one day, this letter would be in all the school history books. A moment of history to never be forgotten.

Izzy tapped her pen on the paper again. It seemed impossible. What was there to say? It was the third day. She had spent three days in her room, mulling over the possibilities of what she could do. Escape? Warn the others? That asshole in the purple suit had made sure her options were limited.

She crumbled the paper in her hands and brushed it under the table before getting up and starting her daily pacing habit.

The clock read 11:30pm. When was this dickhead going to give her the signal. Was he even going to give her a signal?

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, digging her nails into her palms.

"Is everything alright?" Lennox voice came through the intercom loud speaker, causing her to jump. She raised her thumb up to the camera staring down at her, giving the most convincing smile she could manage. It wasn't as if she could trust Lennox either. Who knew who to trust these days.

A blaring alarm sounded through the air, the red lights flashing across her room. A heavy thud made her turn to the front door, which had clicked open.

"DECEPTICON ATTACK. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY! WE HAVE-"The woman didn't have a chance to finish as the intercom fuzzed out. Izzy could hear the screaming in the hallways and feel the heat from the explosions that carried through the hallways. The fire licked at the door frames as it passed by, starting to melt the metal.

Izzy closed her eyes, deeply breathing in as Bluebird screamed at her from within. Begging to be released. Begging to fight. She ignored her and gently pushed the door open. It's hinges gave out, and cascaded to the ground in the hallway with a large bang.

Carefully, she walked into the hallway, her eyes adjusting around the smoke that billowed through the hallway. She brought her sweatshirt up to her mouth, fighting the smoke that caused her eyes to water, immensely.

The burnt bodies around her were still twitching as their human instinct begged them to try to stay alive. She held her sweatshirt harder against her mouth, trying not to vomit from the putrid smell.

Izzy barely had time to process the large footsteps that were shaking the floor around her. Familiar in a way, but unfamiliar.

Sean Wayne stepped out of the smoke, with nothing less than content in his expression. Izzy held her stance as a large purple and black robot emerged from the smoke, walking behind him, their steps in sync. The robot stopped, his one red eye, glaring down at Izzy.

Mr. Wayne fizzed out as though he was a bad channel on a tv, his entire body disappearing. A hologram. Nothing more.

"Sean Wayne, huh?"  
The robot turned and started walking towards the Autobot hanger.

"Shock Wave"

…

Sideswipe watched from the corner of the hallway as Izzy reluctantly started following Shockwave towards the hanger. There was many ways to approach this situation, and none of them seemed like the best of choices. Sideswipe was good at what he did sure, but Shockwave was bigger, taller, and he didn't like saying it, but must better and more equipped than him in a fight. Taking on that brute alone would be most definitely suicide.

"Are there any Autobots within the base?" He transmitted though the private link.

"NO! THIS SHIT IS TOO CRAZY" Skids immediately transmitted in a high pitched shriek.

"West side of base, by the aircrafts, I could use some help. They got me outnumbered" Arcee chimed in before going silent.

"On my way!" Bee texted through the com.

"Sideswipe, why did you ask if there was anyone in the base" Ironhides inquired. Sideswipe paused, watching Izzy and Shockwave disappear around the corner.

"Because, I may be about to do something incredibly stupid" He transmitted and started walking from out from his hiding spot. He was stopped as a familiar hand grabbed his shoulder.

Ironhide There was a different feel in the air than usual. This fight was looking nothing less than meek if anything. They were out gunned, and unprepared. But as Ironhide gently patted his friends shoulder, Sideswipe wondered if maybe they could do this.

"I'm always down for stupid shit"

Sideswipe nodded. They both turned back towards the hallway, their weapons transforming onto their arms. Loaded and ready to go.

….

Shockwave stared around the array of lights. The energon. If he was impressed, he didn't show it.

"It is an interesting choice. Small pods to hide the energy signature so we couldn't find them." He reached up, grasping an energon light in his hand. They all started to ripple in the recognition of a cybertonian being. He grasped it tighter before ripping it out of its socket. Energon spilt to the floor while the rest dripped onto his metal plating, absorbing into his metal, drying as if it was water on skin. "The only problem, is you humans trust anyone with a badge and a nice suit"

Izzy said nothing. She gazed around the base, a place in which she had the oddest of memories. Odd but good. It was weird to think how little time it had taken to get to this spot of her life. She once was robbing rich, white old men of their pride and money, and now was in some alien, robotic war zone, conspiring with the enemy.

She felt the cyrote starting to heat up on her wrist and she gently covered it, with her opposite hand. Now was not the time to be drawing attention to one's self.

"Touch one of the pods" Shockwave growled. Izzy looked over to the flickering energon lights.

"I react to it, if that's what you are wondering-"

"TOUCH ONE!" Shockwave snarled, his foot stomping on the ground so hard, bits of title flew into the air. Izzy managed to keep herself composed as she reached over and grabbed onto one of the pods.

The room started to pulse with energy, over and over again, the lights dimming, brightening and then pulsing. She could feel all the power of the energon through her fingertips, as if asking her to take it.

Shockwave turned, admiring the brilliant array of lights with fascination.

"Had to see it for myself." He grinned, looking down at her. "I wonder how much of human is really left in there"

Izzy was in no position to be angry at the comment, but yet she felt exceptionally pulled to smack him. The robot out in the desert, how had she done that? His skull crushed as though it was a toothpick. Yes. That would be a useful skill to have right about now.

"I'm still human"

"And that part of you, is useless to me." Shockwave growled. "But the cyrote, loves to take in recourses. Energy. You are now a living generator for us. Something the autobots clearly never thought to do"

"Or maybe they just valued my life a little bit more than you"

Shockwave snorted, turning back towards the pods.

"Doesn't hurt you at all, it's what the Cyrote was made to do. It can't very well continue doing it's job if you are dead"

Izzy paused, looking down at the glowing band that was lightly vibrating on her wrist. "It can't do its job if she was dead." That stuck with her. Blue bird was meant to protect her, she already knew this. But if the Cyrote was meant to store energy…maybe it just didn't have enough energy to do its job to the max capacity. Like in the desert…

Shockwave tossed a metal object down to the floor, that clattered and bounced before rolling unsteadily to Izzy's feet.

"Hold that in your hand, it will allow a transfer from the pods"

Izzy reached down, taking the metal in her hand, anxiously trying to gather her thoughts.

"Don't do it, Izzy"

Sideswipe and Ironhide walked carefully out from the hallway, keeping their hands carefully at their sides, weapons at the ready. If it was a fight that they wanted, they didn't look show it. Their movements were well thought out and with worry.

"You want to be taken out with dignity, of course. You picked the right bot for the job" Shockwave strode forward, his hand transforming into what could only described as a chainsaw from hell.

Izzy gripped onto the metal piece in her hand, each second getting more painful than the next. This was a fight, she didn't want to see, nor be around, and there was a high possibility that the ones she wanted to make it out alive, would not.

And that's when it happened.

The plan.

…..

Optimus raised his blade up, before slamming it down towards the earth. The sword didn't miss it's Decepticon target along the way, taking the big, red eyed scum down into the dirt with a new hole in his chest.

Prime ripped the blade back, just in time to duck as two missiles flew by his face, blowing up a N.E.S.T vehicle behind him.

"This isn't going good!" Lennox screamed, quickly jumping out from his hiding space to throw a grenade forward.

"It could be going better" Prime admitted wearily, quickly shooting a few bullets out in front of him. It didn't make even a small dent in the hoard of deceptions that was ripping through the sand towards them. No Decepticon activity in months? This was why. They had been planning, saving their energy, prepping for this attack.

Optimus allowed himself a moment to muse at the idea of how hard it must have been for Megatron to wait as long as he did. When it came to fights, Megatron's patience was about as high as a four year old human child. But this triggered another question. What was so important that he waited until now? What had changed? There was no possible way they had just stumbled upon their base. Was there?

Optimus turned, quickly slamming his fist into a Decepticon that was pinning Mudflap down. Mudflap quickly stumbled up to his feet, checking his body over for what he was sure would be a gaping hole. Nothing.

"Thanks boss bot" He stuttered, turning back towards the next wave of Decepticons running towards them. "I ain't ever seen shit like this"

"And I was hoping you would never have to" Optimus replied grimly. Mudflap flicked a cactus, that was nestled between his plating, back to the ground, grimacing at the uncomfortable prickles it left.

"I swear, since that Cyrote thing came around, shit's been going so bad."

Optimus eye's widened and he quickly turned towards the base, his legs slamming into the sand as he picked up his pace. Mudflap took one look at the approaching army of Decepticons, before high tailing it towards Optimus.

"Are we retreating!? BOSS BOT! WHAT IS HAPPENING!? ARE WE FLEEING?!" He screamed, his little legs pumping as fast as they could.

"Izzy." Optimus responded. "They are here for Izzy"

"We have eyes on her" A very soft transmission from Ironhide. Something was off. Prime didn't stop running, slamming his shield into enemies as he went. Nothing was stopping him from reaching the base entrance.

"What is wrong, Ironhide" Prime transmitted privately.

"We aren't the only ones that have eyes on her"

…..

"WATCH IT!" Ironhide yelled to his comrade as he narrowly missed a missile flying past his shoulder.

"My bad" Sideswipe groaned, quickly rolling to the side as Shockwave slammed his fist down towards the smaller bot. "I would suggest we stay in the relatively same area to avoid hitting each other"

"Or maybe just aim better" Ironhide growled back. Shockwave grinned, watching them bicker. Sideswipe could see how exceptionally self-aware Shockwave was. He knew that the fight was leaning his way, and this was essentially like a cat playing with the mouse to him. Occasionally he went for the kill shots, but they managed to scurry away just in time. It wouldn't be long now for sure. Sideswipe could feel his pace slowly and Shockwave was soon to get bored of his games.

Shockwave slammed his fist forward, smashing it into the ground. The entire room shook as the concrete cracked up all the way to the roof. Sideswipe and Ironhide paused to look at the now threateningly danger above them. They could possibly survive the base caving in, but that was unlikely. But someone who wouldn't survive for sure…

They both turned towards where Izzy was last seen standing.

"Izzy, where are-"

Ironhide wasn't given the chance to finish his sentence as he was smashed back by a large metal rod, slicing its way through his chest and out his back. Energon splashed across the floor as his knee's buckled. He tried to stay up, his arms shaking as they started to give out.

Everything was silent. Shockwave grabbed the metal rod, with his hand while pressing his foot carelessly onto Ironhides back. With a quick pull, it slid out. The sickening groan that followed could only be described as horrid. Sideswipe was frozen in place as he watched the lights in his partners eyes flicker.

"NO!"

Her scream was vile. Vile in a way that you would not wish to hear it ever again in your life. Something that haunted you, gave you chills at night. There was sorrow, anguish, anger, but most of all…there was power.

The energon bulbs flashed rapidly, each one exploding as it brightened to its max. Shockwave quickly covered his head in confusion as the glass shattered from all around him. He backed up against one of the walls, his hands covering his eyes as the intense blue light continued to glow and expand. It was growing at one side of the room, as if being channeled.

Sideswipe quickly grabbed onto Ironhide, pulling him away from the intense wind that was starting to build in the center of the room. The glass started to slam against his armor, scratching at the paint. He turned his head away, trying to protect his eyes to the best of his until he managed to drag Ironhide against the wall, keeping him covered with his own body. It was a hurricane of chaos and energy. Neither bot dared to touch the streaming blue light that was tunneling in the sideways tornado. So much energy, could kill them each with no problem.

Sideswipe glared across the room at Shockwave, who was gripping onto the hanger ledge as hard as he could. Neither of them were in a position to fight and they knew it. All they could do was cover their heads as the wind continued to build, metal and rocks whipping through the air in various directions.

The wind started to die down, along with the glow of the lights. Every single pod drained of it's contents.

Sideswipe shook his head, brushing the pieces of metal and glass that had fallen between his armor, surveying the damage. The front door had completely collapsed into a pile of rocks and metal, while the ceiling looked like it could at cave any moment. He brushed his hand in front of his face, trying to settle the dust. He could see Shockwaves bright red eyes from across the room, but he didn't seem to be making any attempt at movement. They were both disoriented, which gave him time.

He turned towards his comrade. The amount of energon that was pooling at his knees was enough to make any bot feel sick. Ironhide groaned again as Sideswipe gently propped him up against the wall, trying to elevate the wound.

"Izzt…" His voice cracked and fizzed with effort and he tried to point but Sideswipe shushed his as he scanned the damage.

"Sideswipe, Ironhide?!" Prime's voice fizzed out on the intercom. The collapse of the building must have messed up the frequencies.

"Sideswipe here." He said softly. "We are gonna need Ratchet…and some way out of here" He shifted his gaze to the ceiling, unsteadily.

"What in the Allspark did you do!?" Shockwave shrieked, emerging from the dust and shadows of the other side of the room. His arm was loosely swinging by a few fragments as he tripped his way forward over the debris. Sideswipe jumped up, watching the mangled Decepticon make his way forward. Even with one arm, he knew Shockwave could still easily eliminate him.

Shockwave stopped mid-way, turning his attention to the small amount of blue hue that illuminated the room. Sideswipe didn't dare keep his gaze off his target, but found curiosity got the best of him. He stole a glance to the side.

Izzy. She stood on the other side of the room, every single part of the walls beside her were collapsed, but not a single block or even pebble was in a small circle around her. Like a shield had protected her. The energons energy?

Sideswipe found himself even more curious as he took a mesmerized step towards her. Ironhide turned his head weakly, watching the scene play out in front of him.

As Izzy clenched and unclenched her fists, Sideswipe swore a small grin crept to her lips. Her eyes glowed an astonishingly, blinding white, while her veins pulsed and glowed with the power she had acquired. All that energon, in one small being…It was impossible yet…here it was.

She took a step forward, the ground under her foot melting. Sideswipe frowned. Too much power. This was way too much. Her body was clearly not reacting to it in the way it was supposed to. Or was it?

"Izzy, it's too much energon! All that energy is dangerous!" He yelled as she took another step forward. Her eyes dimmed as she turned towards her alley. This time, the smile was unmistakable.

"I know" Her smirk had a sadness to it, and he was unable to process what that could mean as she clasped her hands together. The light pulsing through her veins started to gather, a large ball of energy forming at her fingertips. Shockwave didn't bother to run, or even move. His fascination with the scene before him, was too much to take. Izzy turned towards him, as the tornado of wind started to pick up again. The roof cracked under the rough currents, but she didn't stop her approach towards the Decepticon before her.

"I bet you didn't know that the host of the Cyrote can use the stored energon" She shaped the ball of energon that hovered above her fingertips carefully, showcasing the impressive creation. "Me either, but figured it was worth a shot."

It was over before he could respond. With a quick hurl of her wrist, the ball of light flew forward, melting Shockwave to scrap metal as it barreled onward. The wave of fire was immensely hot as the energy dispersed onto the collapsed wall and Sideswipe quickly turned his face again to shield Ironhide.

Silence. Everything was silent for a moment. The quiet didn't feel right. Had they won?

Shockwave peaked his eye out over Ironhide's shoulder.

Izzy was still standing in the same spot, her face pale and her body swaying, unevenly. She glanced up to Sideswipe, meeting his gaze with uncertainty.

"Izzy…Are you okay?" He took a cautious step forward. She slowly reached up and wiped her nose. Red. Red on her sleeve. Blood?

"You are leaking?" He inquired taking another step. The same liquid started to trickle out of her eyes as she blinked rapidly. He knew enough about human anatomy to know this was not a good sign.

"Human medic. We need a human medic in-"

CRACK.

A small rock bounced off his face plating from above. Than another. The entire ceiling suddenly sunk, barely managing to keep itself up. It was going down, there was no doubt about it.

The ground started to shake below him, and he sunk to his knee's trying to hold onto anything for support. For a split second, his optics met Izzy's eyes. Tears were streaming down her face. She gave a small smile before the roof came completely crashing down.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"And here we are on this sunny morning in Los Angeles, coming to you live from Pershing square where we await the arrival of the Autobots, for a final statement."

Markus watched the TV screen, twiddling his thumbs, nervously. He wasn't the only one in the room that was anxious. Lennox paced back and forth, while a few of his team members kept their finger on the safety of their gun. None of them that had survived the base attack, were really who they were before. Every sound, every squeak, every movement, had them on edge. No one could be trusted. Who was real and who was fake? Was it all illusion?

Sean Wayne. What a joke. No one had ever questioned his authority or badge. It wasn't as if it wasn't real. He hopped up the ladder in ranks so fast, and no one had stopped to question it. How easy it was for them to trick.

Markus adjusted the brace around his foot, anything to stop playing with his fingers again. He wanted to look calm, although he was far from it.

The live footage shook as the camera man, clearly not adjusted, nor ready to see a transforming robot, tried to keep his composure.

"My name is Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots. I am here to tell you today, that we have not been entirely truthful to the human race, as I am sure many of you already know. We have been on this planet for a lot longer than was originally told. We have no place to go, nor would we have a means to get there if we did. It was never our intention to sprout a war on your planet."

A few cameras flashed, while anxious reporters held up their tape recorders. This was going to be the announcement of the century along with the first time the public would be able to question the Autobots. Markus wondered what the questions would be like. Would people be angry? Would people be too afraid to speak?

A stir of movement behind him, caused his focus on the T.V to waiver. He paused to glance around at the men who were turning towards the front door. Anderson had a limp in his stride as he walked into the room, but he didn't appear to be phased by it in anyway. A long, stitched from his eyebrow to his cheek was a gruesome sight, to say the least. He had been part of the search and rescue team after thee explosion. He didn't have to be. He was above that type of risky work, and everyone knew it, but he was at the head of the team, like it was his only job.

Anderson paused, his eyes searching the room until they rested on Markus.

"Time to go"

Markus gave a small nod, pushing himself off the seat. Now that the base had been compromised, relocating people was near impossible. Everything was a chaotic mess. A majority of the people who had been relocated, had been let go, free to do as they wish. There wasn't enough order to keep track of everyone.

"Optimus! QUESTION!" A female's voice rose above the other protesting reporters, desperate to get their question heard. "There has been speculation as of recently, that the viral security footage of a woman, with glowing eyes, early 20's, was seen jumping balcony from balcony and later picked up by the S.W.A.T team. Who is this woman? Or should I be asking, what is she?"

The camera man must have got a request to turn around, as he was now focusing on a bright, blue eyed, bouncing tit, blonde haired reporter. She looked pleased with herself as the various journalists around her, turned to Optimus, also clearly interested in the response.

Everyone in the room, turned their attention back to the screen. Prime had not been told how to answer questions about Izzy, and it was too late to coach him on what to say.

"Shit" Anderson muttered, shoving his way through a few soldiers to get closer to the T.V .

The camera shifted back to Optimus, who deflected his gaze down to Bumblebee. A few beeps came out of his mouth, which he was well aware the human beings would not understand, but Markus knew. He didn't needs to under that. And neither did Optimus.

"She is a human. Just like you." His voice is low, stern, as though he were teaching some immature child a lesson. Everyone was hushed, waiting for him to continue. "An alley. A friend."

Markus smiled lightly. This would give the reporters more than enough to chew on, not that Prime knew that. It wasn't as if he understood how gossip columns. Or did he?

"Find that reporter. Find out where she got her info from, that security footage was CLASSIFED!" Anderson yelled to no one in particular. Lennox gave a small nod though, just to let him know he was heard. Times were tense, for everyone.

…

…...

Bee watched the humans practically jump over themselves in order to get closer. It struck him as odd that they were so intrigued. It wasn't as if this was a surprise.

He remembered Sam at one point mentioning to him that war was a means of money for this country. A war meant tons and tons of media coverage, something that people very much seemed attached too. Which yet again, was odd to him. On Cybertron, hearing about the attacks and continuation of the war had always caused his spark to feel heavy, yet here, people listened, seemed to feel sad, and then wait for more. Like a drug. They were addicted to the constant misery around them. Self-victimize?

He turned back into the conversation as Optimus took a step back, trying to wrap up the questions.

"Has the names and numbers been released of who was in the building when it collapsed?"

Prime paused. He knew the numbers. In fact, with one quick scan of the paper, he knew every name of every person who had died. But he didn't think these humans actually wanted him to stand here and say the 263 names of the fallen soldiers, scientists, men and women that had been working on what they thought would be another average day.

Bee could feel the uncomfortable adjust in Optimus's position. Arcee was leaning against a building to his right, energon leaking out of her shoulder, but she kept herself composed. Ratchet was much too busy right now to assist her, and Bee wished there was something he could do for her pain.

She met his optics for a moment and gave a small nod in understanding.

"I am sorry" Prime said gently. "For the loss of life today. For us both"

He turned around, transformed and started his drive away. The reporters immediately started to protest their anger, begging for more questions to be answered. Bee kept his head down as he turned to transform and follow Prime.

It didn't take them long to get to their destination. With no base, there was nowhere really to hide. If the Decepticons wanted to attack, they very much could. But they were on high alert now. Being out in the open came with the anxiety of knowing they were out in the open. If it was a fight they wanted, going on national news, showing exactly where they were at that moment, was an invitation. One in which Megatron had not taken, which yet again proved to be odd.

They approached the large warehouse, carefully. Small rocks shot out from under their tires as they came to a quick halt. Arcee was the first one to transform and she opened the large door and went inside. She had been very silent about everything.

Everyone had been.

Bee kept his head down as he walked into their warehouse. It wasn't a base. It was a mutual place they could all meet up and nothing more. It also was Ratchet's new work space.

As his optics adjusted to the room, he couldn't help but want to go back outside again. The large bent table in front of him, held Ironhide, barely clinging to life. Ratchet was monitoring him while carefully inspecting Sideswipe who rested against one of the doorwaysl He had looked better, without a doubt. The large dent in the side of his head was impossible to miss. Many of the bots kept their head lowered to avoid staring too long.

Ratchet paused what he was doing to greet Optimus. Bee knew this kind of exchange too well. The slow shake of a head and gentle flick of Ratchets wrist as he spoke to their leader.

Bee had only seen it a few times, but he knew what it meant. He turned his gaze towards Ironhide. His friend was going to die. With no equipment, no energon, and no way to meld the wounds, he wouldn't make it.

Bee blinked, keeping his gaze low as Crosshairs walked past him. Their bothersome fights seemed like eons ago, back to where they didn't have worries. He watched the green bot sit on the ground, crossing his legs, and taking a deep breath and exhaling.

Bee stole a glance towards the front door where Drift and Hound walked into the room. Even Hound was abnormally silent as he followed his comrade to the other side of the room. Everyone was tired from the fighting, and the various shifts of searching for traces of energon was beginning to be exhausted. All energon from the base was gone in the explosion, leaving them with physically nothing to survive off of.

The vulnerability of it all, shook Bee to his core. Megatron had no reason for not attacking them at this very moment and everyone knew it. Yet here they were, all gathered in one spot. It was as though none of them wanted to accept that they had lost. They truly had lost that fight.

Optimus turned to face his fellow Autobots, a distinctive sadness in his expression.

"It might be time, that we consider relocating, separately" He chose his words carefully. "Temporarily"

No one said anything. It was true. The best chance they would have is to relocate, and soon. None of them really wanted to acknowledge this.

"We cannot continue to be out in the open and we cannot survive much longer on the energon that we have. So tonight, I will pair you all up, and you will begin your journey elsewhere. Search for energon readings. Search for another place that could be a safe base." He turned towards his comrades. "We will rebuild."

…

0 percent survival chance. 0 percent. 0 percent. Over and over again. She could hear them talking over her dreams, which used to confuse her but now she understood what was happening.

For a while there, she panicked. She was unable to breath at her own pace. She could feel a machine doing it for her. That changed one night when she was sleeping. Everything was muffled, there was a tugging sensation in her throat, and her eyes shot open as vomit projected into a medical bin.

And from there, Izzy wished that she could just go back to sleep. At least there, she didn't have to see what had happened. What she had done. The pain she had caused.

"What had I done?" She thought to herself as a nurse reeled in a tray of food.

"How you are feeling today?" The woman gave a bright smile, adjusting the tray over the hospital bed.

"A bit tired" Izzy admitted, eyeing the over steamed vegetables that looked like they had been just recently thawed. She wrinkled her nose but tried not to let the nurse see her disinterest in the meal. Her one note from the doctor this week, had been that she needed to eat more food. Being on life support definitely was a top weight loss program any girl could ask for. It worked a little too well.

Her once toned arms and legs, were thin, bones perturbing from her knees and elbows. Even her fingers had suffered, looking like some old grannies fingers, than her own.

Izzy hadn't dared to look into a mirror, afraid to see what would be looking back.

The nurse stared down at the soup and vegetables, awkwardly shifting her gaze to Izzy. Izzy knew what she wanted. A gesture. Any type of sign that would give her the permission to exit the room and go back to her other work.

Izzy smiled, picking up the fork next to the plate and dug it into a hunk of broccoli. The nurse smiled and turned around, leaving the room.

The broccoli immediately fell from Izzy's lips as she spit it back out onto the plate, wiping her mouth in an attempt to disperse the horrible taste.

Now to begin yet another day of staring at the wall, and trying to trick one of the new nurses to give her the remote for the T.V. They had been given strict orders to not allow her to have access to any electronics and to be closely monitored. When requesting for some books to read, they acknowledged her request and hadn't updated her for over a week, so she had a feeling it had been denied. By who? Government? The hospital? Her lawyer? Did she have one? Was she part of the governments property now? Were they going to start doing all those tests on her like she figured they would one day?

If she had the energy to escape, she would have done so by now. Bluebird was too weak to assist, nothing but a small presence in the bottom of heart. She felt kind of like a little fluttering you may feel when you see someone you love. That feeling was constantly there, giving Izzy a constant feeling of never being alone. A friend she had never knew she needed.

She flicked the band around her wrist, watching it glow very lightly before flickering out to nothing but black.

"Yeah…I'm tired too" Izzy replied, wiping the crust from the corner of her eyes. "But you gotta help me out a little here" Izzy reached forward, grabbing the sheets weakly, managing to push them away from her with little energy. "I don't want to piss and shit in aplastic bowl again, come on, help me out dude"

She could feel Bluebird protesting, but she didn't stop as she pushed the cart of hospital food away from her. The band started to glow again, pulsing through her veins. The needed energy that she was asking for.

Her toes touched the ground below her. Cold, white title. Reminded her of the base. She quickly shook her head of the memories, knowing the needed focus. With a gentle push, Izzy grabbed onto the railing on the wall and started for force her legs to straighten out. Every part of her wanted to collapse. Sweat started beading on her forehead, but she refused to stop.

Her knee's straightened completely, and she stared at the bathroom door in front of her. One step at a time. One. Step. At a time.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

One by one, each bot was paired off with another before given a location and off they went. It was like Tetris, pairing each up with another, who would fit best as a team, who was already a team. Optimus had clearly put a lot of thought into it. As Lennox leaned up against the warehouse wall, he felt the deepest feeling of overwhelming loss. A couple months ago, he had yelled at his comrades for existing, for bringing this war upon their planet, and now here they were, separating, saying their goodbyes, and he wished he could have taken that moment back.

It had never been their fault. They were more human half the time than he felt he was. They say goodbye. They mourn. They heal. They fight. They try. They always tried, and even in their failures, they never gave up.

Lennox glanced over to Ratchet who was hovering over Ironhides table in the corner. Not being able to take any more of the goodbyes, Lennox turned around, instead opting to join Ratchet in the medical area. It didn't look like he was planning on leaving, and Prime wasn't pushing it.

Ratchet gave the smallest of nods to Lennox as he joined him. Neither one of them was watching the pair off at this point. Neither one of them wanted to see any go. Instead, they took to staring at the large table that held Ironhide.

"…He's not gonna make it…is he?" Lennox's voice was quiet, and he felt the emotion choke up his throat. With a quick cough, he pushed it down.

Ratchet gazed back at his comrade on the table, his expression unreadable. He was never much of a talker, unless it was a command or to let others know the level of disgust he was feeling. Lennox knew not to push it

"He's already gone"

…..

Izzy gripped onto the metal railing, forcing herself forward. Each step was unbalanced, as Blue Bird screamed at her to stop, but she didn't. She wanted out. She wanted out, now.

It had been three days since the Autobots had given their little press conference and seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. And that is not an overexpression. No one knew where they had gone, and within that time, a whole ass pandemic had occurred. Some virus that was named after a beer? Corona Virus? Izzy hadn't kept up with the news, but all she knew was the shit was spreading fast, and the hospital wasn't where she wanted to be when everyone came, coughing their lungs up.

She pushed off the rail, stumbling as her legs begged her to stop this foolishness.

"Suck it up buttercup" Izzy huffed. It was like fighting with a sibling. Not that she would know what that was like, but she figured it was something like this.

"Ms. Beckett?"

Shit.

Izzy stared down at the ground, her flight or fight response was ticking in her like a bomb, jumping from option to option. Bluebird didn't always believe in the most rational of responses, and the things she was pushing for right now was yanking the railing out of the wall and swinging it around like a baseball bat.

No. That wouldn't be the best of choices.

With her eyes flickering back and forth from silver to baby blue, Izzy turned around to face the nurse, who looked petrified.

"I just needed to take a walk."

"I can't let you do that"

Izzy could feel the heat in her body start to raise. Her eyes flickered again, this time Blue Bird was in control.

The nurse was five feet four, small, but muscular. Not muscular in a way where she clearly went to the gym but fit to a point that she clearly had dealt with enough patients and moving people that she had gained some strength. Hispanic, in her mid-forties, brown eyes, long hair in a bun tied behind her head. The bags around her eyes gave away the long day she must have gone through. This was the end of her shift, and here she was, dealing with some twenty something year old, with glowing eyes while a new pandemic was spreading across the world. Fuck this day.

Bluebird could read it all. Every small little shoulder slouch, eye twitch, and blink. This woman was tired and was not in the mood to put up with much. Security would be her first call, if she had not already.

"I apologize. I'll head back immediately" Izzy smiled, feeling her whole body straighten up. Bluebird was a great manipulator as well. "You look so tired, you should really go get some sleep. I can't thank you enough as a health care professional for caring so much about everyone. You are the reason I have faith in people still"

Such a fake compliment, that anyone with more than an hour of sleep would be able to see through. Unfortunately, this poor woman hadn't slept in days. Tears formed in her eyes as she thanked Izzy, trying to gather her composure. She didn't bother checking to see if her patient actually made it back to her room as she excused herself to the bathroom.

With a quick turn, her socks sliding easily across the title floor, Izzy continued down the hallway towards the exit door. Every small sound, click, footstep, she could hear everywhere. The faintest of conversations held on the other side of the walls. Bluebird wanted out just as badly as she did, and now they were finally working together as a team.

As if by instinct, she placed her hands on the ground, staring to crawl forward like an animal. It was quiet. Who would have thought crawling across the floor like a dog was the softest ways to make your way around?

Ducking under a desk, and with the red exit sign in view, it was only going to be a few moments until she had made it out.

Pause. Movement. An overweight security guard, five feet, ten inches, walking with a slight limp, hands loose at his side. He leaned over one of the desks, rummaging through an empty box that once held face masks. No luck. He silently cursed to himself before continuing his walk.

Apparently, those face masks and gloves were in high demand right now and hand sanitizer had become the same price as gold. Izzy had originally wondered if maybe stealing a few items for her venture would be wise but decided it would be better to save them for the nurses and doctors who really needed them. Their adventure was a lot more important than hers. Saving human lives would always top any importance.

Izzy crawled forward, the exit sign like heaven beckoning.

With speed and perfect execution, she rolled out of the door and shut it in seconds, not a single sound escaping. The staircase beckoned her to continue with her escape, which she invited gleefully. She could feel Bluebirds excitement pumping through her veins, beginning her to go faster. Run faster. Her strength was gaining more and more. Could it be possible the Cyrote was able to collect its own energy? She hadn't been near any energon supply since the explosion, yet Bluebird seemed to be healing on her own.

Quickly swinging over the railing, she jumped down a story, landing on the bottom step with ease. With a burst of adrenaline, she staggered out the exit door and collapsed onto the pavement of the overcrowded hospital parking lot.

No words could describe how it felt to be out of the building and into the natural element of the world again. The rain pounded on the concrete below her, with enough force to drown out the occasional thunder that rolled by.

She could feel a shiver course through her entire body. She was free. Again. But now what? Where to go? Who could she trust?

Clinging the clothing to her body, she made her way forward, carefully ducking around the cars, to avoid being seen.

It was cold out. With nothing but socks and an ugly hospital gown, it wouldn't be long until she would have to seek shelter. Where was she supposed to go?

Keeping low and to the darkness of the other side of the sidewalk, she took to venturing through abandoned parking lots and parks to make her way across the city. No one was up at this time, nor did anyone want to be with a growing pandemic.

Izzy could feel Bluebird fading, as her eyes flickered, the light guiding her way, halting to exist.

"Come on, no. I need to see where I'm going. You gottta help me out here" Her voice was almost a whimper. Begging. Bluebird was the only thing she had left, and she didn't want her to go, even if just for a moment.

She dropped to her knee's as a sudden wave a weakness washed over her. Gasping in pain at the impact the concrete had on her bones, she slipped forward, her face digging into the crack of the sidewalk.

"Fuck!" She groaned, biting her tongue as she curled in a ball to try to inspect her knee's, but it was too dark to see anything. "You got to warn me when you're about to just leave, okay?"

She didn't expect an answer, so she wasn't surprised when none came. Carefully, she forced herself up to her feet again. Her entire body felt like it had been hit by a bus, from the tip of her toes to the top of her head, a soreness that was unexplainable.

The bright white beams of car headlights, was enough to make anyone jump. The engine revved.

Cop? Autobot? Or worse yet…Decepticon?

Bluebird was back within seconds of these thoughts, this time slamming Izzy forward into a sprint. She could hear the vehicles tires screeched across the pavement as it turned to peruse her.

Run. Run. Run. She screamed the words silently to herself over and over as Bluebird struggled to keep going. She was still weak, with every right to be.

Izzy leapt onto a large metal trash can, swinging her momentum forward in a jump. Her hands outstretched towards patio railing, anything to get the hire ground.

It wasn't enough. Her fingers desperately grabbed onto the wet concrete of the building as she slid down the wall. There was nothing she could do to stop the fall back down, except continue to dig her nails into the wall, watching them chip away and bleed.

Izzy's legs buckled out from under her as she fell to the ground, landing in a puddle of water. The chase was over before it even began.

"God damnit" Izzy groaned, forcing herself to flip over onto her stomach to watch the approaching vehicle. If there was one way she promised she would never die, it was by being stepped on by a Decepticon. The idea of that infuriated her. Being stepped on, like some common bug? Like an ant? No. Not her.

"Come on, fucker." She whispered, wiping her bloody hands on her hospital gown as she got herself up to her knee's once more. Heaven forbid any security cameras be in this area, they would see a woman in a bloody hospital gown about to face off an alien in the middle of a crazy storm. Crazy times.

The vehicle came to a halt, dimming its lights on her. No license plate, no signs of a driver. Her hope for a cop, was crushed, but she knew the chances had been slim from the start.

The unfamiliar make of the car, prove to be yet again a threatening sign, but she refused to let her growing anxiety show.

"I don't know where they are" Izzy wiped her drenched hair away from her eyes. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I don't know anything man, I just got out of the hospital, I don't know how I did that explosion. I don't know"

She could feel herself starting to stutter. Whether it was out of fear or if her body was just finally realizing how cold it was, she didn't know. Neither seemed to matter at this point.

The car started to fold in, shifting, over and over again, building itself up. Izzy kept herself still, watching the transformation. It still never ceased to amaze her.

The bot finally stood, everything clicking into place, their red armor shining in the rainfall.

Izzy caught her breath, feeling a sense of familiarity in the shapes and placements of wheels and windows.

"Bee?" She whispered, taking an unsteady step forward. "Is that you?"

The bot finally raised his gaze up from the ground, the pleasant blue eyes nearly causing Izzy to faint in relief. Bee took another step, cautiously, keeping his distance. It took Izzy a moment to realize… she had blown up their entire home. Of course, he had every right to be uncertain.

The growing guilt, started to form a tight knot in her stomach as she shook her head, wordlessly, trying to find the words to say.

"Bee…I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was doing, it wasn't me" She blubbered, as snot started to drip down her nose. It was impossible to tell if she was crying as the rain continued to pelt down. "This thing in me, it does things to protect itself. I don't do it. Please, I'm so sorry"

She was sobbing now, shaking her head in frustration. Bee didn't move, staring down at her.

Izzy managed to collect herself, again wiping the hair off her face as she reluctantly looked down at the ground.

"You gotta go Bee. You can't be out in the open like this. Not now. Not for a long time." Izzy wrapped the soaked gowned around her arms that were already covered in goosebumps. "What are you even doing here still? It's not safe. Where's everyone else?"

"They have left"

Izzy swore she recognized the segment from an old war movie.

"Why didn't you?"

"I couldn't leave you here"

And just like that, all of Izzy's stress, left her body. A simple 5 words, was all it took. Bee leaned in, bending down on one knee. The softest of rumbles from deep within his throat vibrated.

"I'm okay" She took a step towards him. "Nice paint job"

Bee shook his head in disgust, letting his original yellow and black color flash across his body.

"I like the yellow better too" Izzy gave the smallest of chuckles, before a shiver ran up her spine. Bee pointed towards her, beeping lowly.

"I'm just a little cold" Izzy finally admitted. Bee nodded and quickly began transforming, the front door opening, beckoning her to go in. "I don't know how safe it is for us to be around each other. I can't control whatever the cyrote does"

"Nothing's safe anymore…what matters is we stick together. We're family" the radio fizzed a few times in the transmission as Bee inched forward, swinging the door open again. Izzy nodded, temporarily burying her head in the palms of her hands. Anything to stop the surge of emotions she was feeling.

"Okay"

She carefully climbed into the front seat of the car. The door slammed shut and Bee carefully drove away. Izzy rested her head on the window of the car. Her entire body was aching for sleep, and now seemed like as good as time as any.

….

DING-DONG

Markus hadn't moved from his bed besides to go to the bathroom in over three days. With piles of chips and beer, he considered himself ready for this pandemic. First the Decepticons, and now some virus? Could human existence ever get a damn break?

Reluctantly, he swung his feet over the bed, grabbing one of the crutches to assist himself up. Within all likely ness, it was someone from N.E.S.T assuring that he hadn't left. Many of them had been trying to keep control of every situation. They wanted to feel like they still were in charge of something. Rather pitiful, really.

The door started to shake as fists pounded at it.

"Calm down! I'm coming, god" He shouted, limping his way forward. He unchained the door and opened it to confront the unwanted visitor.

Then black. Everything went black.


End file.
